A Ride Called Kagome
by Stone Dragon Ruby
Summary: Inu and Sess are the two brother's who left the world of chopper drag racing when Sess lost his left arm in an accident. Yet, when Kag comes into Inu's life, will he take all the risks to take the ride that only comes once in a lifetime?
1. Prolouge The Dog Duo

Disclaimer; Awe come on! Everyone knows who make Inu-yasha by now. Fine, Inu-yasha is not mine.  
  
A Ride Called Kagome  
  
~~~~  
  
Prologue; The Dog Duo  
  
An Entry from Inu-yasha's Journal  
  
I still remember the night it happened. The sounds of engines running in my ears as I passed them, or they passed me and the feel of the engine vibrating underneath my hips, it was all still fresh in my mind. I wasn't going to loose that race. The bet was at it's tops that night, and second place would be fine too, but I wanted the main course.  
  
Then, he came into town. This hot shot rider from the northern part of downtown came that night with a pack of eight riders. The called themselves "The Howlers" because when they passed you, the engines would howl in your ears.  
  
Sess and I were the "Dog Duo", a team of two brothers that were saving money to pay the rent. Now, all we needed was that last sum of money to get the shop in the middle of town.  
  
I remember looking at the leader as he walked over to me. "So, you're Inu- yasha and Sesshoumaru, huh? I hope you guys are fast enough this time. Remember my name, Koga."  
  
I would remember that asshole's name until kingdom come; they will be done, on earth as it is on that hellish race track. New hazards came every Saturday Night, and not a single person knew what they would meet until they got to the other side. It was filled with fire, nails, jagged metal, fog, sharp turns, and above all things the jump at then end of the run that was over a fifty foot drop into the river below. Making it over that jump, through the ring of fire, and landing safely meant you won. Just passing through that fire ring that was six feet in diameter and you won, and accuracy counted.  
  
I watched as Koga left us and my brother placed his hand on my shoulder. "Keep your head in the game, Bro. We've got a tunnel to make it through first."  
  
I looked at Sess and grinned as he flipped his black braid of hair over his shoulder and put on his helmet that was decorated with a snarling white dog, and said "Moon Dog" on either side in large purple letters.  
  
I took my helmet and placed it over my head. It had two large dog ears pained on it with "Wind Dog" written in red letters under each ear.  
  
We pushed our bikes to the starting line and warmed our engines as we got ready for the midnight race. Sess rev-ed his engine and pulled his visor down over his eyes as he got ready to go. I looked at him and I still remember what we said to each other. "Sess! See you on the other side!"  
  
I pulled my visor down and hyped myself up as I gripped my bike. The sound of the engine thundering and vibrating as I turned the gas and shifted into first gear and waited for the signal to let go of the break was still so clear in my head.  
  
The sound of the gun shot.  
  
I let go and the ten of us rode into the neon lit cave. Sess pulled ahead, and Koga pulled ahead of me. I was third, but I was also determined to make sure that jerk saw my back wheel. I'd show this new comer. I punched the gas and shift my gear to second.  
  
The first hazard came, jagged metal, and I dodged, left, right, and left again at the hazards as I gained Koga and my brother. I passed the first marker and shifted into third gear.  
  
Fire came next and I followed the pattern my brother had taken, ducking my head down low as I passed through the flames quickly. Three bikers panicked behind me and fell. I looked back then forward as I passed the second marker.  
  
Then, the fog came and covered the tunnel. I could still see Koga's lights, but then again, I could also see my brother's. They were right beside each other. I shifted my gear and tried to gain on them, and just as I did, the fog cleared and the marker passed.  
  
I didn't expect any of it to happen...but it did. Just as I had passed the marker, I saw the sharp turn, and as my brother turned, Koga pulled to close to him, and it knocked the bike over.  
  
I watched as Sess feel and his left arm caught in the handle bar. The jump was coming, and the bike wasn't looking any speed. I speed up and jumped to his side as he was crying out in pain. I saw his arm being burned from the heat of the friction. I held on to him and watched as my own bike ran off the edge and into the depths below. I grabbed Sess's jacket and ripped it free and rolled both of us over to safety as his bike went over with mine.  
  
When we finally came back to reality, Koga had won the race that night. We had lost a lot more than a race though. Sess lost his arm to nerve damage and infection, and it was amputated. He would never ride another bike again.  
  
As for me, I stayed with him. Our bikes gone we had no other options, and so we bought a run down old shop in the middle of town where I could fix the bikes, while Sess did paper work.  
  
We never raced again. For two years, I wouldn't ride a bike of my very own even though I was working on a new one in the back room. I still didn't know what I was going to name my first custom bike though, and during the time, I didn't have the time or the money to work on it and complete it as quickly as I wanted to.  
  
When you ride a bike, you want to keep riding on it forever, non stop. It's that one ride we bikers dream about everyday of our lives. That last great ride into the sunset and never looking back.  
  
Well, needless to say, when I found that ride, it wasn't what I thought it would be. It was some ride though; a ride called, Kagome.  
  
~~~~  
  
Wee! I've wanted to do an Inu-yasha motorcycle drag racing fan fiction for some time now, but never could think of a story for it.  
  
You'll like this story I've thought out though. A lot of unexpected turns and some OOC, but still, you'll like the story I have planned for you. Just stick with me and watch what happens.  
  
See you soon! 


	2. Chapter 1 Nuts and Bolts

Disclaimer; Awe come on! Everyone knows who make Inu-yasha by now. Fine, Inu-yasha is not mine.  
  
A Ride Called Kagome  
  
~~~~  
  
Chapter 1  
  
Daytona Beach, Florida is known for its countless races such as the 500, but the world of speed goes a lot farther that just cars going around in circles.  
  
The motorcycle is every man's dream ride, pride, and their chick magnet. It was a symbol of strength, protection, and immortality. Cycles were the pride of every man because if they lost a girl, they still had their bike and the feel of freedom on the open road. They were the gods of every road in Daytona, and their bike's, their royal carriage.  
  
"Fuck!"  
  
Then, there were the men who lived to fix those carriages.  
  
"Fuck, fuck, fuck!"  
  
Sesshoumaru heard the yelling from his loft office and rolled hi eyes as he opened the window on the other side of the desk. "What the hell are you mouthing off about?"  
  
Inu-yasha looked up from the bike and up at the box off loft where his brother did made the orders for motorcycle parts and did the paper work. "I swear if I every see Corey bring this hunk of crap in here again, I'm gonna turn him down. He should just get a new bike for crying out loud."  
  
Inu-yasha picked up his wrench and threw it against his work bench as he ran up the flight of stairs and into his brother's office to pull out the first aid box. "I hurt my wrist. Shit, it hurts!"  
  
Sesshoumaru rolled his eyes again and went back to his desk and picked up his pen to look over order forms. "Quit your swearing already, I get the idea."  
  
Inu-yasha picked up the bandage and began wrapping his wrist in the tan cloth. "Hey, look, I know you've been in more pain than me, losing your arm in the crash and all, but it wasn't my fault."  
  
Sesshoumaru looked up for his desk and looked at his left shoulder that had the sleeve dangling. "What you ashamed to have a one armed brother?"  
  
Inu-yasha groaned and looked at him, and Sesshoumaru laughed after getting the look he was trying to achieve. He picked up his pen again and licked his thumb as he picked out a file from the cabinet beside him. Inu-yasha picked up the hem of his shirt and used it to wipe the grease and sweat from his face. He flicked his long braid of black hair over his shoulder and leaned over his brother's desk. "How's it looking?"  
  
Sesshoumaru groaned, "I'll tell you one thing, the prices are getting higher on engine parts these days. We may loose some customers of we have to raise the prices."  
  
Inu-yasha bowed his head and sighed before running his hand through his bangs. "I don't know if that's bad news or good news."  
  
Sesshoumaru looked at his little brother as he got up from his chair as it squeaked and scratched the cement floor. "We'll think of something," he reassured him as he headed out the door and down the stairs.  
  
Inu-yasha followed him as his slid down the rail and landed on his feet he picked up a wrench and a rag mixed with grease. "Alright, bolt from Hell; let's see how you face against the grease treatment."  
  
Sesshoumaru reached into his pocket and looked at his brother as he watched his brother grease the bolt and begin turning. He shook his head, "Inu, that's the valve bolt if you turn to fast you'll--" but of course Sesshoumaru was too late in forewarning his brother, and in no time the 21 year old was smeared in oil.  
  
Sesshoumaru snorted in laughter as he pulled out his pack of cigarettes and pulled out a stick placing it between his lips. "You're an idiot!"  
  
Inu spat on the ground, "Shut up, Sess!"  
  
The elder brother only shook his head as he went out side the garage and looked out over the side walk at the beach. He look to his brother a second later after Inu-yasha cleaned the oil from his face with moist wipes. He held out the pack of cigarettes to him. "You wanna smoke?"  
  
Inu rubbed his face, "Naw, I'm trying to quit. I haven't smoked since you lost your arm. Smoked enough that day to probably get cancer and die from it in the same day."  
  
Sesshoumaru lit his cigarette and inhaled as he looked out at the beach again. "Business is going to pick up soon."  
  
Inu-yasha looked to the oil leaking out of the bike. "Really? I thought it already had?"  
  
Sesshoumaru blew a cloud of white smoke from his nostrils. "Well, it could be because of the hype and need to break out the old racing bikes again. The downtown drag races are going to start picking up now that a lot of high school students are getting out. Some of the seniors need money for college, and a lot are going to risk the races in order to get their hands on some cash."  
  
Inu-yasha smirked as he picked up his funnel and a can of oil. "I miss racing."  
  
Sesshoumaru snorted as he looked at his cigarette and then glanced at his arm. "I don't!"  
  
Inu-yasha burst out a laugh. "Liar!"  
  
"Seriously! Inu, if you think I was in it for the money or the fame you're wrong." He took a swig from his stick and glanced at his brother. "I was in it for the feel of the ride, and the rush."  
  
Inu smirked and shook his head. "You're so full of shit."  
  
Sesshoumaru closed his eyes and flicked his butt into the street. "I'm going to Exterminators for a drink. You want anything?"  
  
Inu-yasha shook his head. "I got to finish Corey's bike by tonight, and then I've got three more that need to be done before the owners come an' get 'em."  
  
Sesshoumaru looked at him for a moment and shrugged his shoulder as he walked down the street waving his hand farewell to his brother, "See you in a half an hour."  
  
Inu-yasha just grunted as he slaved over the engine before him. "Damn thing!"  
  
*~*  
  
It was night fall, and Sesshoumaru had not returned in a half an hour like her said he would. Inu-yasha could have cared less about the whole thing. His excuse was that there was probably something attractive about a guy who lost his arm in a motorcycle accident.  
  
He was on the third bike that had to be done that day and he was working into the late hours of his shift, but Inu-yasha and his brother lived on the floor upstairs. Inu-yasha slept on the fold out sofa-bed, while Sesshoumaru hogged the only bedroom. It made sense though since it was Inu- yasha who worked into the wee hours of the morning before finally going to bed and sleeping until opening time.  
  
It was about ten at night, and the shop should have been closed three hours ago, but Inu-yasha kept the garage door open because he didn't know if Sess had the building's key in him. Inu-yasha got to his feet and rolled the last bike of the day into its corner of the garage.  
  
He rubbed his hands together and grabbed a rag as he wiped his hands for the unknown number that day. Inu-yasha tossed the rag over to the corner once he was done and placed his hands on his hips and let out a sigh.  
  
He then looked to his radio and turned it in so it would play the CD in its player. He waited for the disc to process through, before he listened to the guitar cords before the music began to blend. Inu-yasha picked up a broom and twirled it around for a moment, before sweeping up the smooth cement floor.  
  
His lips moved dictating each word without a sound coming from his mouth as she swept the floor free of dirt and any other kind of item on the floor that related to motorcycles.  
  
[i]You say one thing then you do another  
  
You got it all wrong so you blame it on your mother  
  
You're kickin' the dog, don't you kick at the cat  
  
You know it ain't cool, but ya like it like that [/i]  
  
Inu-yasha played with the handle of the broom and pretended it was microphone as he looked out over the bikes and the garage as he turned to his work desk. He air guitar-ed until the next bunch of lyrics came up in the song.  
  
[i]Everybody's talkin' 'bout what it is what it ain't  
  
Kiss on the devil and ya piss off a saint  
  
Well I can't do love if you don't have to crawl  
  
You say you don't need nothin' but you got to have it all [/i]  
  
Inu-yasha picked up the mop next which was perfectly dry and brought it over to the center of the garage floor and looked at the object with it's dirty mop fibers in his face as if it were hair.  
  
[i]I wanna know  
  
What kind of love are you on? [/i]  
  
At that moment, as the chorus went through a figure in a white v-neck shirt and a plaid kilt style skirt. Her legs were completed with black fishnet hose and knee high heeled boots, and one side of her jet black hair was pulled back with a shiny clip.  
  
She took two steps into the garage unnoticed and smiled as she caught Inu- yasha playing an air guitar. It only took her a moment to take step back an lean against the wall as Inu-yasha rotated his hips kneeled on the floor with the end of the handle at his lips.  
  
[i]When Jack took Jill up that hill  
  
She charged his ass a quarter  
  
Well, he flipped his lid, 'cause what she did  
  
Awe, she shouldn't hadn't bothered [/i]  
  
Inu-yasha smiled and closed his eyes as he spun around and played his non- existing instrument as the guitar solo came up in the song. He got spun around and landed on his knees as he faced the door way, ready to sing the next piece. Instead his eyes fell on the girl leaning on the wall by the garage door.  
  
Instantly, his face felt hot, and at the same time his eye were fixed on the girl. He felt his hear skip a beat and a lump build in his throat as he froze and looked at the giggling girl at the door.  
  
[i]Rockin' in the cradle with a high school vamp  
  
Screamin' at a honey like an old true tramp  
  
Up, down, sideways, goin' in and outta things  
  
Everybody ask me why you kiss me 'cause it make me cry [/i]  
  
Inu-yasha finally snapped back into reality and hopped to his feet and stopped the music as the girl approached him and put her hands behind her back after she pushed a stray hair out of her face. He turned around and took a hard gulp and tried to control his breathing. "Um, ah...Sorry about that, I was just doing some, ah, cleaning."  
  
She smiled and looked at her feet. "So, I can see."  
  
Inu-yasha took a moment to look the girl over and saw that there was a sweater wrapped around her waist. 'Okay, Inu! Think about this. Private school get up, so she could be a minor. Yeah right a girl with those wheels? Not to mention the look of those handles. She's got to be 16...at the least. Still, she's got to be a minor then. Damn, and a hottie one too.'  
  
She walked up to him and tapped her heels as she looked at him and tipped her head to the side once she realized where his stair had fallen. Inu- yasha woke up and redirected his eye contact with her face. "Um, sorry...Ah, I was just closing up shop if you're here for something I won't be able to help you until tomorrow morning."  
  
She frowned and sighed, and then turned back to look at him. "I don't mean to be rude, honestly. You see...it's my bike. I have this clicking noise when I ride it and I just need someone to look at it."  
  
'Oh, it's just her bicycle that needs fixing." Inu-yasha leaned on his work bench and narrowed his brow. "What kind of clicking?"  
  
She rubbed her shoulder which pressed her breasts together and showed off at her neckline. Inu-yasha took a hard gulp and mentally kicked himself to be a gentleman.  
  
The black haired girl looked at him with the most beautiful sad eyes he had ever seen, and the message was clearly the kind any man got from a damsel in distress. She spoke softly saying, "It's sort of like a random clicking, more like rattling."  
  
Inu-yasha now had the mental picture of a simple bicycle in his mind with a something caught in the gears. Well, he could help her with that. "Why don't you get your bike and I'll see what I can do?"  
  
His heart could have melted when he saw her smile and she nodded with a girly "ok" and ran out to get her bike. Inu-yasha quickly smirked and went to grab the grease and a wrench as he turned around picked up his rag.  
  
When he looked up he was completely taken by surprise when she rolled in a light blue and silver bike complete with covers over the engine to keep her long shapely legs cool so she could ride in that skirt. The handles were curved and the wheels were average sized with metallic light blue paint that made the machine shimmer, and the glittery silver paint only added to its beauty.  
  
"Whoa!" he said in a low toned voice.  
  
She kick out the stand and took her helmet off the handles as Inu-yasha looked over the bike. "I've never seen this series before."  
  
She walked toward his work bench and placed her helmet down. "It's not apart of any series. It's a custom made bike someone made for my eighteenth birthday. I designed it and everything, but he was the one who put it together."  
  
Inu-yasha cleaned his hands on his rag before running his hand over the smooth metal. He looked at the beautiful machine before him and looked to the girl once he got to on his feet again. "It's a really nice machine," he said, even though the little voice in his head was rejoicing at the fact she wasn't a minor.  
  
She smiled at the comment, but it was a little weak as she walked over and detached the piece of metal that covered the engine and protected her legs. "It usually sounds like it's coming from around here."  
  
Inu-yasha knelt down for a moment before turning on a light to look into the bike. "Well, let's see what we got here."  
  
He looked over her engine, knowing that is had to be a damn loose bolt. He took his wrench into hand and handed the light to her. "Here, hold this for me, would you?"  
  
"Sure," she responded sweetly as she held the light while he touched each of the bolts and nuts on her engine until he finally found a loose one. "Bingo, come 'ere sucker!"  
  
She giggled, and his heart fluttered at the sound of her laugh. 'Damn she's got a cute giggle and nice smile, too. What is that? Damn if that's her perfume then I bet she wears it often.'  
  
He twisted the loose bolt and then took the lamp from her hand and turned it off. He then took the cover with great care and locked it back into place. "That should do it."  
  
Inu-yasha got back up to his feet and smiled at the girl and she tamed a stray hair that fell in front of her eyes. She smiled that sweet smile at him once again and mumbled, "Thank you!"  
  
Inu-yasha felt his chest want to burst and he quickly picked up his tool and rag as he went to his work desk, and picked up a card from the shelf above it. She came up to him from behind after she rummaged through her wallet to pull out a twenty dollar bill. When he finally turned around, he caught her pull out the bill. "Here! It's all I got until I get back home."  
  
Inu-yasha looked at the green piece of currency and pushed it away with a smile. "Naw, it's just a stupid bolt." She frowned a little and placed the bill back in her wallet. He then handed her a card. "Here, just take this and if you know anyone else who needs their ride repaired, just have 'em bring it down."  
  
She looked at the card "'Dog Duo Repair and Body', I'll keep it in mind."  
  
She placed the card in her wallet and then grabbed her keys as she grabbed her helmet off of the work bench. Just as she did though he grabbed hold of her helmet and looked at it. "Angel wings?"  
  
She smiled and turned back to him. "Yeah, it kinda came with the bike. It's a nickname."  
  
Inu-yasha looked at her with an odd feeling building in his chest. "Angel?"  
  
She blushed and looked down at her helmet after feeling the slight pull at the corner of her mouth. Inu-yasha turned the helmet on its side and saw pink elegant letters spelled out. "'Kagome', what's that?"  
  
She blinked and looked at him feeling her face get warmer. "That's my name."  
  
Inu-yasha smirked and let go of the helmet. "It's a great name."  
  
Kagome took hold of her helmet and looked at him with her large brown eyes and batted them a few times feeling flattered. 'He's really sweet for a mechanic. Nice eyes too. I've never seen eyes with his color before.'  
  
Kagome looked down at her helmet and placed it over her raven black hair and walked over toward her bike, and got on. She started the engine and smiled at the sound of clatter was gone.  
  
"Thanks, again!" she said sweetly, and backed out her bike on to the road. A moment latter she looked at him as he leaned outside the door. She smiled and put her clear visor down before giving the machine gas and drove it down the road like a speeding bullet. The sound of the engine almost sounded like crying to Inu-yasha's ears.  
  
Once the sound of Kagome's engine was gone, he turned back into the garage. He had only one question on his mind through out the rest of the night. Would he ever see her again?  
  
~~~~  
  
Okay, there's the first chapter! Next chapter, we meet up with the rest of the crew, and Sesshoumaru hires someone to help Inu-yasha with repairs, and you won't believe who it is.  
  
See you soon! 


	3. Chapter 2 Girlfriends and Sisters

Disclaimer; Awe come on! Everyone knows who make Inu-yasha by now. Fine, Inu-yasha is not mine.  
  
A Ride Called Kagome  
  
~~~~  
  
Chapter 2  
  
Inu-yasha slept on his stomach atop his blankets and sheets. He was completely sprawled out on the sofa bed with one arm by his head cradling his pillow, the other taking up the leftover space beside him. His legs were covering in his green plaid pajama bottoms, one leg hanging over the side of the bed and the other lost among the balled up blankets and sheets. His hair was in a long braid with bits of hair that had come out of place and the mess of bangs over his eyes.  
  
Sesshoumaru opened the door to the only bedroom with his black hair in a mess because he hadn't braided it the night before. He stretched out his arm with a yawn and walked through the door itching the contents of his black pajama pants and then rubbing his stomach with his only hand.  
  
He passed Inu-yasha and snorted in laughter at the softly snoring man in the most ridiculous position he had seen him in yet. He leaded over a whispered in a girly voice into his ear, "Inu-yasha, you were great last night!"  
  
The young man groaned and spoke in his sleep, "Wanna go at it again before you leave?"  
  
Sesshoumaru stood up and then slapped his brother's ass as hard as his hand could. Inu-yasha jumped. "Fucking Hell, Sess!" he cried before slamming his face into his pillow.  
  
His older brother grinned, "Let's do that again sometime!"  
  
Inu-yasha groaned before turning his head to the side. "You just fucking disturbed the greatest dream I Had about a girl that came to the shop last night."  
  
Sesshoumaru sat down on one of the benches looking at his brother after pouring himself a cup of coffee. "A girl, huh? Must have some handles in order to make you talk in your sleep."  
  
"Not just handles, she had great lookin' wheels, too. There's probably enough gas in that girl to make a man want to go all night. Jeez, she was a hottie!"  
  
Sesshoumaru took a sip of his coffee before reaching for his morning cigarette. "Sorry I was late coming home last night. I was talking to our new helper in the garage."  
  
Inu-yasha rolled over on his back and looked at his brother while he rubbed his face with one hand. "You hired someone?"  
  
Sesshoumaru lit his stick ad blew some smoke into the air. "Yeah, he'll be here around say...oh, in the next two hours; just before opening time."  
  
Inu-yasha groaned and sat up in his bed and then scratched his upper chest. "Is he a bike mechanic?"  
  
"Fresh from the shop class, he just needs a job and I handed it too him. You need the help anyway with the bike races and the night drag races coming up in a few days. People are going to want their choppers in shaped for the run," his older brother said as he placed his cigarette back into his mouth and bit the filter with his teeth when he spoke again. "Take a shower, you look like shit!"  
  
Inu-yasha huffed, "And you don't either?"  
  
Just as the words escaped his lips the sound of a girl yawning and walking out of his brother's bedroom came into view. "Morning, Sess, Inu!"  
  
Inu-yasha watched as the girl in his brother's bathrobe made her way into the bathroom and closed the door. Inu-yasha turned to his brother with a smirk, "Heh, so that's why you were really late coming home. Your girlfriend was at the bar."  
  
Sesshoumaru put out his cigarette. "Rin isn't my girlfriend."  
  
His younger brother gave him a look that told him 'yeah right'. Sesshoumaru looked at him. "Hey, it's gotten a lot more personal, okay? It's more like an affair. You should try looking for a real girl than dreaming of 'em and look into loosing the one thing you haven't given up yet either."  
  
Inu-yasha groaned, "Shut up, Sess! You don't have to tell the world that I'm still a damn virgin." He rolled back into bed while his brother laughed.  
  
He finally picked his head up again. "Who is this new guy anyway?"  
  
~~~~  
  
"Name's Miroku, I'm from uptown Dakota Beach. Just graduated last Sunday from the tech school in town," the young man said as he ran his hand through his short black hair.  
  
Sesshoumaru who was sitting in his chair and Inu-yasha who was sitting on his brother's desk looked at him before the oldest looked at his resume. "Says here you're 20, Miroku, and you graduated this year?"  
  
The young man rubbed his hands together. "Well, you see I had cancer for sometime and I missed out on two years with all the recovering and radiation."  
  
Both brothers showed their understanding with the same reaction, a long 'oh' and a few nods.  
  
A moment later, Inu-yasha was in the shop at the newest set of bikes that had to be worked on that day, while Miroku set up his work bench in the cleared out space for him. He looked at his long haired co-worker as he set up his tools and other whatnots. "So, you're Sesshoumaru's younger brother?"  
  
"Yep! Been working with choppers my whole life since I was a kid, and opened shop when Sess lost his arm." Inu-yasha picked up a pair of pliers and wires with tubes.  
  
Miroku nodded as he removed his shirt to put on one that was more suited for working with cycles. "How did your brother loose his arm?"  
  
Inu-yasha froze before getting the nerve to move again. He didn't look at Miroku and instead looked down at what was in his hands before kneeling on the cement floor. "Motorcycle accident," he said with little emotion behind it.  
  
Miroku raised his eye brows and whistled as I went to grab one of the bikes in need of repair. He grabbed a socket wrench and looked over what needed to be fixed. "That bad of a story, huh?"  
  
Inu-yasha continued working on the wiring. "Let's just say it wasn't one of his finest moments...and nor was it for me."  
  
Miroku nodded his head and turned to the open door when he heard a howling motorcycle engine coming down the road. A moment later a man drove in slowly and parked his bike. Inu-yasha got to his feet a whipped his hands with his rag. Once the engine was turned off, Inu-yasha studied him carefully. He had heard that engine before.  
  
"Can I help you?" he asked, and not a second to soon, the rider removed his helmet that was decorated with a pack of wolves on the run.  
  
"Well, well, well, if it isn't the dog brothers. So this is where you two puppies ran off to after I kicked your asses in the downtown drag race," he mocked as he got off his bike and kicked out the stand. Inu-yasha merely griped his rag as the black pony-tailed man came over to him.  
  
"What do you want?" Inu-yasha growled.  
  
Koga smirked triumphantly, "Oh come now, Inu-yasha. If my girlfriend hadn't told me her story about how you've helped her, I wouldn't have found this place. Besides, I need someone to fix my ride's headlight before Saturday and I don't have the time. I have a date with my girlfriend."  
  
Inu-yasha only glared at him while he smirked and turned away with his helmet and key's in hand. "Scratch it or do one thing to fuck up my bike and I'll sue."  
  
With that he left, "I'll send my girlfriend and sister to pick it up later."  
  
Inu-yasha looked at the bike and thought over what Koga had just said. 'If my girlfriend hadn't told me her story about how you've helped her, I wouldn't have found this place.'  
  
In no time Inu-yasha groaned and threw his rag to his work bench. Miroku looked at him and he covered his face with his hands. "What is it?"  
  
Inu-yasha groaned as he ran his hands down his body to rest at his hips. "There was this girl that came here last night with a loose bolt in her engine. She must have told Koga about us." Inu-yasha paused a moment before walking to his bench. "She must also be his girlfriend."  
  
Miroku nodded his head while he wiped his hands on his jeans. It only took him a second to suddenly start smiling at his co-worker while he leaned on his arms over his work bench to sulk. "Let me guess! She got long legs...soft curves...round breasts--"  
  
Inu-yasha spun around and pointed to him. "Alright, let's get something straight here. There's a thing we call Biker Talk around here okay? A woman is like ride, got it? Legs are wheels, breasts are handles, and curves are chrome."  
  
Miroku laughed as he crossed his arms. "Really, so what do you biker's call a woman's hot spot, her engine?"  
  
Inu-yasha blushed a little. "No," he stopped and crossed his arms as he leaned his back against the bench, "that's their heart."  
  
Miroku shook his head. "Must be some ride, huh?"  
  
Inu-yasha moaned as he ran his hands through is bangs. "Hell yeah! The kind of ride you wouldn't want to stop riding until the world came to an end; and, maybe even after that."  
  
Inu-yasha hopped up on his bench and sat down while he looked at Koga's bike. Miroku came to his side and did the same as he leaned his hip against the edge. "So, what would you call a ride like that?"  
  
Inu-yasha smirked as he folded his hands in mock prayer on his thighs and leaned his chin against them. "I'd call it...Kagome."  
  
~~~~  
  
Two hours later, Koga's bike was done and Inu-yasha was just polishing the shiny copper and black metal. He didn't stop until he saw himself in that painted metal. "Damn, I miss riding these things."  
  
Miroku heard him as he was doing body work on another customer's bike. "Then why don't you have a bike? You work on 'em all the time, you should be able to build one, right?"  
  
Inu-yasha's mouth pulled at the corner. "It's not that easy when you're working on other bikes, and buying parts isn't the cheapest thing either."  
  
Miroku nodded his head and whipped his hands before turning his head to the street as a light blue bike came into view with two girls on it. Inu-yasha recognized the driver immediately. 'She came back!'  
  
The engine was turned off and Kagome removed her decorated helmet before shaking her head to loosen up her hair as it flowed around her face and shoulders. To Inu-yasha the whole thing seemed to happen in slow motion, and stop once she smiled at him. "Hey!"  
  
Inu-yasha wiped his hands and grinned. "Looks like it working just perfect."  
  
"Thanks!" she said as she got off her bike and her rider removed her helmet. She turned to her female riding buddy. "Stay here, I'm just going to go pay the guy upstairs."  
  
Her friend nodded and placed scooted up to the driver's half of the bike's seat and placed her helmet in her lap as her friend ran up the stairs to the boxed off loft.  
  
Inu-yasha watched her and shook his head. "Hey, Miro, stay here and watch the bikes for me, I have to brag something in the storage closet." He tossed him the rag and Miroku nodded as Inu-yasha took a glimpse up at the girl making her way up to see his brother before he disappeared into the back.  
  
Miroku, on the other hand, had taken an interest in this other mysterious 'ride' with long legs covered in leather boot cut pants and a purple tank top. He looked over the 'wheels' and then the 'handles' before she finally turned to him. He turned back down to his work once the girl caught him.  
  
She looked him over. "It's a nice set of wheels, isn't it?"  
  
He was completely unsure of how to answer her question and blushed wondering if she was referring to her legs or the bike. "Um, yeah, is it a custom made?"  
  
She looked at Kagome's ride. "Yeah, her brother made it for her birthday."  
  
Miroku picked up a part and began cleaning it still letting his eyes wander the girl a few more times. "Who's her brother?"  
  
She tossed some of her hair over her shoulder. "My boyfriend, Koga, the owner of the bike we came to get."  
  
Miroku looked up and dropped the piece of metal on the floor, completely surprised. The girl giggled and looked down at her helmet. "I know, you'd think a drag race cyclist would pick a better looking chick then a bar owner."  
  
Miroku of course was thinking the complete opposite when she said that. "Wait, you're telling me that that girl is his sister, and you're his girlfriend?"  
  
She nodded slowly wondering why he was so surprised over the whole thing. She twisted to her side and held out her hand. "I'm sorry, I should introduce myself. I'm Sango from the Exterminator's Bar about three blocks from here."  
  
Miroku looked at her hand and wiped his own quickly to take hold of it. "Miroku!" he said and as he said that he took the moment to memorize her soft palm in his hand. She pulled it away and brushed a stray hair away from her face.  
  
A second later, Inu-yasha walked back in with the parts he needed for the next bike he had to fix and dumped them on his work bench. A second later Kagome came down the stairs as well and stopped once she came up to Inu- yasha with a fifty rolled up in her fingers. "Here, my brother can be a really big jerk when it comes to tipping and stuff. Your brother told me what happened today, and I should apologize."  
  
Inu-yasha looked at the bill and then at her with a dumbfounded look on his face. "Your...brother?"  
  
Kagome smiled and nodded. "I told Sango, his girlfriend here about your place when I got home and she told my brother this morning. I just came with her because she doesn't trust herself on my brother's bike."  
  
She picked up her helmet and rapped her arms around it. Kagome played with her knees for a moment and pulled the helmet behind her to watch them disappear and re-appear through the holes in her blue jeans. Her pink, square neck, tee didn't help Inu-yasha to think more clearly anyway.  
  
He finally turned away to regain his senses and look at the bill in his hand. "Um, this is a pretty big tip for body work and a tune up."  
  
Kagome looked up at him and smiled. "I know, but some of that is for last night."  
  
Inu-yasha looked at the bill and then opened a cash box he kept, and made some change. He handed her back thirty dollars, and smiled. "I can live with twenty."  
  
Kagome looked at the money and then smiled a little before walking to her brother's bike to start it up. The howling engine fired up and Kagome put of her angle wings helmet. She waved a little and then pulled the visor down once Sango had started up her bike and moved out. Soon, both girls drove down the street and were gone.  
  
Miroku came to Inu-yasha's side. "She's his sister, and the other one is his girlfriend."  
  
Inu-yasha groaned and picked up apart. "You know I think I was just fine with thinking he was her girlfriend, but sister? Crap!"  
  
Miroku smiled, "Could be worse!"  
  
Inu-yasha got down at his knees as he ripped oven the box containing the part with force. "How could it possibly be worse?"  
  
Miroku shrugged his shoulders, "She could be his sister, and be dating another guy."  
  
Inu-yasha smirked and laughed with some amusement. Miroku shook his head and went back to work. However, time would tell how right he really was.  
  
~~~~  
  
There ya go, folks! Kinda twisted, huh? I need it to be, so just deal with the over protective brother thing for now.  
  
The song in my last chapter was "What kind of Love are You On?" by Areosmith from the soundtrack "Armageddon" 


	4. Chapter 3 The Project

Disclaimer; Awe come on! Everyone knows who make Inu-yasha by now. Fine, Inu-yasha is not mine.  
  
A Ride Called Kagome  
  
~~~~  
  
Chapter 3  
  
Inu-yasha ran his rag over the silver panted metal of another customer's bike so that the chrome would shine so well that he could see himself in it. He smiled and then threw the rag over his shoulder before taking a step back to look over the body work one more time.  
  
Miroku was packing up his things when he saw Inu-yasha admiring the bike that was his last one for the day. He smiled as he cleaned his socket wrench. "It's a nice machine, ain't it?"  
  
Inu-yasha jumped up on his stood and took a seat by his work bench and continued to admire the metal artwork before him as he leaned forward on his elbows and rubbed his hands together. "Yeah it is! It reminds me of the machine I once had before the accident."  
  
Miroku stopped working and placed his rag and wrench to the side. "Accident?"  
  
Inu-yasha glanced at him for a moment before taking a deep breath and turning his back to him to clean up his work bench for the night. "Yeah, it was a couple of years ago. It's how Sess lost his left arm."  
  
Miroku found this sudden piece of information quite interesting and also a complete shock. "Was it a tire blowout or the engine popped?"  
  
Inu-yasha placed the things in his hands down and looked at Miroku and then to the side. "We were a drag racing team once, just my brother and me. We would go and race the downtown area race track on the old bay bridge that the city hasn't torn down yet. It's run by a guy named Naraku, and he owns the course. He's the only one who knows the secrets behind his own track. How to get through them, how to avoid them, just about everything on that track was designed by him. Only a few men have made it through the track, including my brother."  
  
Miroku looked at him for a long period of time before picking up his jacket and bag. "What about you? Have you ever made it through the course?"  
  
Inu-yasha smirked and put his hands on his hips. "The last obstacle on the course is this ring of fire over a drop into the water below. It's like a one-hundred foot drop to the water. Sess could make it, but I never had enough confidence to go make the jump because I could never get to it at the right angle or speed. My bike wasn't fast enough for that kind of jump. You had to hit it dead on or else you'd be a dead man. Sess had that part down, but I never did. I never had the courage."  
  
Miroku put on his jacket and walked to the open garage door and stood there with his hands in his jacket's pockets. "So, what happened? Did he miss the jump?"  
  
Inu-yasha closed his eyes and smirked. "No...He lost control of his bike when a rider came to close to him and at an incredible speed. The bike fell over and dragged his arm over rusted metal. I jumped off my bike to get him free so he wouldn't go over the edge of the jump like his cycle did...and mine."  
  
Miroku frowned and hung his head. "Sad," he mumbled, "I wish you coulda saved your bike from that kind of end. It must have meant a lot to you."  
  
Inu-yasha smirked and looked at him. "A man's ride can be his whole world, but it can't take the place of the real one."  
  
Miroku grinned, "Who told you that?"  
  
Inu-yasha looked at the floor and folded his hands in mock prayer. "My father..."  
  
~~~~  
  
Inu-yasha cleaned up shop and looked around to make sure everything was in place. He nodded after finally agreeing with himself that it was a job well done and looked around to see if his brother was coming down the street. Inu-yasha decided to leave the garage door open so his brother had a way into the building; he wasn't going to be too far away from the door anyway and all the bikes were stored away.  
  
Inu-yasha looked around cautiously as though someone were watching him, even though no one was there anyway. He grabbed his tools and unlocked a drawer in his work bench and pulled out a fairly large box before closing it and locking it again. Quickly he escaped into the back room and left the door open a crack before placing the box down on the cement floor.  
  
Before him was an object covered in a thick, ivory dust cloth. Inu-yasha rubbed his hands together and let out a whoosh of breath before taking hold of the cloth and throwing it off of the object beneath it. Now, a skeleton frame of a motorcycle stood before him with two wheels with covers and finished handle bars.  
  
Inu-yasha opened the box. He removed the packaging and looked at the beautiful shiny metal before him. A brand new engine lay before him, and it was so beautiful to look at that it took a moment for Inu-yasha to take hold of it and take it out of the box because he though his grimy hands would effect its luster.  
  
He picked up the engine with his hands and arms and lifted the heavy hunk of metal into place. Once he had it in place he quickly drilled it and bolted it to the frame until it was secure. He then went on to the wiring as he went to the back and grabbed a fresh battery to work on getting the engine to work.  
  
Inu-yasha had already planned on working all night. It was what he had planned on doing since tomorrow was Sunday and shop would be closed anyway, so he'd have the whole day to sleep in.  
  
As he got the wires ready, he hardly even noticed that he wasn't alone in the room. In fact it took the sound of a bolt dropping and clinking on the floor before he finally looked up from his work and looked toward the door. He saw a figure in the shadows, and thinking quickly he covered the frame with the dust cloth and got to his feet. "Sorry, shop's closed for the night. We'll be open on Monday."  
  
"Oh," said a voice, "no I'm not here for motorcycle help or body work. I just stopped by since I was in the neighborhood."  
  
Inu-yasha looked in the direction of the figure and found the voice familiar be fore turning on another set of lights and finding Kagome staring back at him in her frayed shorts and a leather jacket that was far too big for her. His chest could have burst just looking at her as she clutched her jacket closed with her tiny hands and looked at him with some uncertainty in her eyes.  
  
He finally swallowed the lump in his throat that was keeping him from speaking and looked at her a little less surprised. "Kagome, what are you doing here? I thought you had a bike to take you home."  
  
She smiled and combed back a stray hair from her face with her fingers and fixed it into her messy bun of midnight locks. The smile, however, made his heart beat a little faster and his stomach want to burst with all the butterflies fluttering around in it.  
  
"I left my bike at home, today. My boyfriend, Hojo gave me a ride to work today."  
  
His heart broke, and he felt like everything in his body had crumbled and broke into tiny pieces on the floor. Could fate be any crueler to him than it was now?  
  
He shook it off, even though the tiny voice in his head was telling him to find this Hoko guy and kill him in the name of love. Inu-yasha watched Kagome as she glided over to the dust cloth covered bike frame. "Is this your bike?"  
  
Inu-yasha released some of the air in his chest and looked at his covered frame looked at her again before going towards it again. "It's a project," he stated with simplicity. I was the truth, though; the bike was a complete project and was meant for one thing or two.  
  
Inu-yasha looked at her for a moment and nodded as he lifted the dust cloth off of the bike frame. Kagome looked at the steel molded frame in awe and ran her fingertips over the handle bars. "It's so beautiful."  
  
Inu-yasha snorted and rubbed the back of his neck nervously. "Well, it's not much to look at now, really, but once all the body work is done, it should be ready for anything."  
  
Kagome looked at the frame for a moment and smiled. "You're looking for speed, aren't you?"  
  
Inu-yasha looked up at her a little surprised, and Kagome stood up straight. "I can tell by your engine. My brother gets his from the same company for his dr...for his bike."  
  
Inu-yasha looked at her surprised that she was ashamed of her brother's lifestyle. "His drag racing bike?" he said for her, and she was surprised that Inu-yasha knew what she was trying to hide.  
  
She smiled with a little less brilliance. "He's that popular, huh? I'm surprised so many people know about him, but when it comes to me they don't even have a clue. I've kind of disappeared into the crowd now a day."  
  
Inu-yasha looked at rather sadly and picked up his tool to complete what he was working on. "I'm looking for the fastest bike possible. I like to go fast and feel the wind in my face and hair. I miss it."  
  
Kagome smirked and squatted down to look at the frame of the bike. "Well if you're looking for speed, this won't work."  
  
Inu-yasha looked at her completely lost and looked over his frame. "Why not?"  
  
Kagome shook her head and put her weight on her knees as she ran her hands over the frame bars. "You'll get too much wind resistance. You need to make it more like an arrow; a lower ride will help you cut through the wind."  
  
Inu-yasha looked over the frame and then came up to it and looked at her from the opposite side of the bike. "There won't be any room for the engine though."  
  
Kagome shook her head. "You place it more towards the back, and you put the battery in the front. The lower you are to the ground the easier it becomes. All you need to do is move the engine to about here, not too far from the back wheel, and the battery here."  
  
She told him all of this by pointing out the location of each piece with her tiny fingers. Inu-yasha was almost hypnotized by her idea and her soft voice. "How did you ever come up with this? Why are you sharing this idea with me and not your brother?"  
  
Kagome frowned and looked at the floor. "He doesn't believe it can be done. He thinks it's not normal for girls to know how to make bikes do different things, like speed. Yet, he's the one who makes custom bikes all the time, and he never thinks about these things. The money and the drag racing have really gotten to his head...the same thing goes for my boyfriend, most of the time anyway."  
  
Inu-yasha looked at her and tried to turn the subject away from her brother and boyfriend somewhat.  
  
"Didn't you say your boyfriend was coming to pick you up of something? If he found you in here with me he might think I was trying to seduce you or something."  
  
This made her laugh and she got to her feet. The fact she laughed at his sarcasm made him feel better. Kagome looked at him and played with her jacket. "I work at Exterminators, Sango's bar, the funny thing is I always see your brother there with his girlfriend...but I've never seen you."  
  
Inu-yasha looked down at his incomplete bike and grabbed a rag to clean his hands again. "I'm not really into bars anymore. It's hard to get into the social life when there are so many things to get done."  
  
Kagome smiled weakly and touched the frame of the bike. Inu-yasha seemed to think about her touch more than her words. What must it feel like to be touched by those tiny hands? She was a complete mystery to him, but at the same time seemed to make him feel like he had always known her.  
  
Suddenly, there came a honking noise from outside and it got more impatient as the two turned to the door. Inu-yasha walked out first and Kagome followed. Just as they got into the garage itself, a young man about Inu- yasha's age stepped into the light after parking his bike on the sidewalk just outside.  
  
"Kagome, there you are! Where were you? I thought I told you to stay at the Exterminators until I came."  
  
With a fraction of a second, Inu-yasha felt the cold chill of jealousy running up and down his spine. This guy talked like he owned her... well he did in a sort, but still. He turned to Kagome who had a nervous smile on her face as she tamed her hair once again. "I just came to say hi to a friend, that's all. Hojo, this is Inu-yasha the one who helped me fix my bike a few days ago. Inu-yasha, this is my boyfriend, Hojo."  
  
To say the introduction brought joy to each of the boys hearts was like saying there wasn't a hell. Both shook hands reluctantly and said a simple "hey" before Hojo turned to Kagome once more.  
  
Kagome looked at Inu-yasha and smiled. "I don't have work on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays. Maybe, if you don't mind...I can come over and help you with your, um, 'project'?"  
  
Inu-yasha felt his chest puff with a warm feeling and he did his best to conceal his joy in front of her boyfriend and her a little. "Um, sure, I guess. Do you really think those adjustments will work?"  
  
Kagome grinned showing her bright smile that make his heart beat a little faster. She touched his hand, and it seemed to only make things worse on him. "We'll work on it together."  
  
Inu-yasha swallowed and grinned as she turned to run after her boyfriend and take her helmet from him. She turned around and waved to him as Hojo started up his bike and sped down the street with Kagome clutching to his body. What must it feel like to be held in those arms while you're speeding down the streets of Daytona Beach?  
  
"It must be some ride!"  
  
~~~~  
  
Well here's the new chapter, and the next one will be up after I update A Lifetime Loving You. After every update on this story, I will update Iron Rose, and the cycle you can all guess from there.  
  
See you soon! Review! 


	5. Chapter 4 The Hunger

Disclaimer; Awe come on! Everyone knows who make Inu-yasha by now. Fine, Inu-yasha is not mine.

* * *

**A Ride Called Kagome**

**Chapter 4**

(Sorry for the huge delay. I wanted to finish Part 1 of my story "A Lifetime Loving You" really bad. Tonight, I just said, I've only gotten 3 reviews for the last new chapter and I'm really not up for writing another chapter yet in part 2...so I'll just do something I am in the mood for doing.)

The Exterminators Bar teamed with people from all over town, each one sitting down to talk about the Beach Chopper Rally coming in a few days, others to watch a baseball game, and those that drank their liquor mysteriously in the corner deep in thought.

"Here's your Budweiser, Sir!" Kagome said as she placed a cold glass and a tan bottle before him as he watched the game with his fingers crossed. Obviously he had made a bet on the home team or the visiting team and was planning on making some green that night. Truth was, he was on his third beer, so chances had it that the odds were not in his favor that night.

Sango cleaned the bar table free of peanut shells and spilt liquor went Kagome came through to untie her apron and grab her school bag. "Okay! I'm gonna take my break so I can look at some of my school work. These college courses I'm taking are gonna killers since this is technically my first semester."

Sango leaned against the bar with her elbows on the top as her brother Kohaku jumped up on one of the bar stools. "Okay, spill it, Kagome!" he said as he spun around in the chair. "Word has it you're helping that chopper mechanic at the shop down the block."

Kagome smiled as she set up her books by the last bar stool to start reading. Sango walked over, "It's that guy with the long black hair, right? The guy whose brother has no left arm?"

Kagome sighed, "Yeah, he's working on this bike that he wants to build for speed. I thought I might, you know, help him out. Do some things I like doing since Kouga won't do them with me anymore."

Sango smirked as she leaned over Kagome's book. "Something tells me you're not just going to see this guy for nothing. I know how attracted you are to mysterious dark haired guys who are obsessed with bikes. It's the one thing that makes me wonder why you're still with your creep boyfriend."

Kagome made a face and leaned over her book. "Hojo is a decent guy, and he makes time for me when he can."

Kohaku laughed. "Yeah, he makes time when he sees another guy flirting with you. The guy treats you like a racing trophy that he gives flowers and candy too when he thinks you're falling in love with another guy."

Kagome shook her head. "Well, I can tell you right now there's no other guy that I'm thinking of."

Sango snorted as she crossed her arms. "Yeah, except for that mechanic. Why don't you just give your self a chance, Kagome? I think that guy is more your type than you think. And the fact you like building bikes and he likes it too is a plus. Hojo never cares about your designing ideas, and Koga never has time for them anymore. I think this guy could be good for you."

Kagome looked back down at her books and a small hint of blush rose in her cheeks. "He does like my idea I had for his bike, but it's that speed bike I designed that needs to be driven with a second person riding in the back so the bike can make sharp turns when it's going full speed. It was the design Kouga thought was too out there for drag racing."

Suddenly, she closed her books. "Kouga and his stupid drag racing. I swear one of these days he's gonna get himself killed. I wish he wasn't in it for the money. I know he needs it to finish paying the bank for the shop, but he's made his whole life around those races know."

Sango sighed as she ran her hand through her hair. "I know how you feel. He never has time for the both of us, come to think of it."

Kagome looked down on her books and began to study. "Maybe that's why I offered to help him. I just get back to the way things were between me and my brother, and Inu-yasha might not be a bad place to start."

Kohaku grinned, "Oh naw! He's a perfect place to start. The question is what's gonna happen once the bike is done? Maybe...you'll do that thing you and Hojo have been meaning to do since your one year anniversary?"

Kagome looked up. "What thing?"

Sango grinned as she leaned toward her friend. "Remember how you had that dinner planned at your place and your brother was out for the week. You had everything planned from that one plate of spaghetti to that black lace nightgown, when he called you to say he had won a drag race and was going to go celebrate with the boys."

Kagome colored when Sango mentioned the lacy gown she had bought, but the emotion changed once she remembered Hojo's call to cancel when he was already two hours late. "Yeah," she said weakly as she flipped the pages of her book, suddenly discovering she had lost the mood to study.

Saturday came and Kagome kept to her promise of meeting Inu-yasha at his shop to work on "The Project". She came in a pair of long stained and ripped jeans with a white tank top that was in fact one of her brother's undershirts. When she had arrived, Inu-yasha couldn't help but look at her chest momentarily since the shirt was practically see through. Her white bra was clearly a lace one for he could see the patterns of the lace through the peaks of her breast that pressed to the shirt.

However, once it was time to get down to business, her breasts were almost forgotten when it came to working Saturday afternoon into the evening on the frame of the bike and putting the new shipment of parts in place.

* * *

"Inu-yasha, can you hand me the welder?" she asked as Inu-yasha picked up the one tool he loathed, the wrench. Kagome welded the frame into its new position and took a step back once she was finished and lifted her helmet and held up her thumb to make sure she was on target, bighting her tongue gently and she closed on eye. "Perfect! My brother always said welding needed to be done with a woman's hands because we're so bitchy about perfection." 

Inu-yasha laughed as he walked to the back of the bike to put the temporary back wheel on. "You did a lot of this stuff with your brother, didn't you?"

Kagome smirked and shrugged her shoulders casually as she took off the welding mask. "Kouga and I used to make bikes all the time while I was in high school. I just love doing it."

Inu-yasha rotated a nut into place. "So, why did you stop?"

Kagome shook her head to free her hair from the mess the mask made before pulling it back again into a messy bun. "I guess you could say..."

Kagome's explanation was interrupted suddenly by the sound of Inu-yasha's loud grumbling stomach and he jumped as he put his greasy hand to his stomach. He smiled as he looked down. "Sorry, I didn't have lunch today."

Kagome giggled a little, only to hear her stomach make the same noise a second later. "I guess my lunch wasn't too satisfying."

Inu-yasha laughed a little and walked over to pick up his watch on his work bench. "Damn, it's ten already? Fuck, every place in town is closed by now. I hate Saturdays!"

Kagome took of her gloves and looked down at her hands for a moment to rub out a cramp in her palm. She looked at his back as he sighed and thrust a hand through his black hair. Kagome looked him over for a moment as he leaned over his work bench to think. Her eyes drifted over his back as his muscles began to push against the fabric. Thinking quickly she mentally smacked herself to jump back into reality.

Kagome looked down at her fingers as she felt her face get warm around her cheekbones. "Well, there is this one place I know that stays open until three o'clock in the morning?"

Inu-yasha turned around a little surprised at her offer. "What place?"

Kagome smiled a little and walked over to the work bench to grab her helmet. "Get your helmet!"

Inu-yasha arched an eyebrow and then shrugged as he grabbed his helmet off the top shelf above his bench. He strode out in his biking boots as Kagome put her helmet on. She glanced at her bike and then back at him. "You want to drive?"

Inu-yasha smirked and laughed. "If you're asking me to drive you'll be holding on for dear life."

Kagome smiled as Inu-yasha put on a silver domed helmet with a red visor that looked like one of those sporting helmets dirt bike riders wore, the same kind all drag racing bikers wore too. He mounted her bike and turned on the engine as Kagome hopped on in the front.

Inu-yasha snorted humorously. "You don't trust me?"

Kagome smiled behind her helmet. "Hold on!"

* * *

Inu-yasha gripped Kagome's sides as the wind blew in their faces and he had his face next to hers as his chest pressed into her back. The speed on her bike wasn't half bad, and Inu-yasha was used to it, but he wanted a reason to be closer to her body. A fact which she didn't protest as his arms circled around her waist and lower ribs. 

Kagome finally slowed down and stopped at a burger place down the street. Inu-yasha waited until she brought the bike to a halt and turned off the engine before taking his helmet off. He looked at the restaurant and narrowed his brow in confusion. "Ah, Kagome, this place is closed."

Kagome smiled at him as she dismounted her bike. "It's only closed to certain people." She held out her hand to him and took his arm. "Come on!"

Taking his helmet with him, Inu-yasha tried to catch up with Kagome's pace as she dragged him around back and knocked on the door in some odd rhythm. A moment later the door was opened a crack and a short man with red hair stood before them. "Password?" he said in a young voice.

Kagome smiled and said, "Davison Sucks!"

The door was opened and the young teenager smiled. "Kagome, where have you been?"

She ruffled his hair with her hand as she walked in. "Up and around, Shippo! Where's Kaede? My friend and I are starving and I could really go for one of those old fashioned cheeseburgers of hers."

Inu-yasha took one step in and the teenager looked up at him and then back at Kagome. He smiled, "I knew Hojo wasn't going to last much longer," he said with a wink before scurrying off into the kitchen. "She's doing an inventory. I'll go get her and tell her you're here."

Kagome colored again and felt confused by the red head's previous statement. She stood up straight again and Inu-yasha looked around as he scratched the back of his head. "So, where do we go?"

Kagome turned to him and fixed a stray piece of hair in her face that her helmet had dislocated when she took it off. "You want to sit on the bar stools?"

Inu-yasha shrugged and followed her through the kitchen doors into the dimly lit dinning area as she turned on the lights near the bar. Kagome took a seat and put her helmet on the vacant seat next to her and Inu-yasha took the other seat beside her putting his helmet on the table and crossing his arms over it. He rested his chin in his hands and looked at the pictures on the wall behind the bar.

"Hey," he whispered once his eye caught something. "That's you up there isn't it? You and Kouga on that bike near this restaurant."

Kagome looked up at the picture and smiled. "Yeah, that was such a long time ago. It was my freshmen year of high school and I thought pigtails were cute back then. Jeez, I was such an airhead! I look like a dork in that picture."

They both laughed a little as Kagome blushed at her embarrassment. Inu- yasha looked at the bike in the picture. "Whose bike is that?"

Kagome sighed sadly and put her arms up on the table and rested her chin on them as she dazed off into the picture. "It was the first bike Kouga and I built together. I was fifteen and he was seventeen and loved his metal shop classes at the tech school near here. We didn't see each other a lot because I went to private school when our parents divorced. I lived with Mom and he went with Dad.

"When I graduated, I didn't want to live under my mom's new rules when her boyfriend moved in. When Kouga got his own place He said he had an extra bedroom and I took up the offer. I've been living with him most of the summer now."

Finally, the door to the kitchen opened and a large, old lady came out with two huge cheddar cheeseburgers hot off the grill in both hands. "I heard my little Kagome came down with a friend for a bite to eat, so I whipped up the best burgers I had for the both of you."

Kagome sat up with a bright smile and Inu-yasha did the same to be polite as the plates were placed before them. "How is your brother doing? I haven't seen him in months."

Kagome's smiled faded a little. "Oh, he's out of town for a few weeks to go and handle a part shipment he needs."

Kaede nodded as she cleaned her hands on her apron, and then took a glance at the young man who took a bite out of the cheeseburger. She smiled, "And who's this new comer?"

Inu-yasha quickly grabbed his napkin and wiped the mix of mayonnaise and mustard from the side of his mouth, feeling a little embarrassed to be eating like a pig in front of them. He was really hungry though!

Kagome giggled a little and put her hand on his shoulder. "This is Inu- yasha, he a motorcycle mechanic at that little garage down the block from the bar I work at."

Inu-yasha extended his hand. "It's nice to meet you!"

Kaede took it gently and they shook hands for a moment, before the old woman turned to Kagome and gave her a hidden wink and a smile. The young woman blushed and began to take a bite of her burger.

* * *

Inu-yasha drove the bike home that evening, but he went slower than he was used to since they had both just eaten those large cheeseburgers. When they got to the shop Inu-yasha dismounted and Kagome scooted forward. "What time should I get here on Tuesday?" she asked. 

Inu-yasha removed his helmet. "How's about coming around closing time, again, umm, maybe 7 o'clock?"

Kagome smiled as she revved her motorcycle's engine. She smiled at him sweetly before pulling the tinted shield over her eyes. "I'll be there!"

With that Inu-yasha smiled and took a step back as she drove off. He watched her until she turned and waved for a moment before speeding down the road home.

Inu-yasha returned her wave good bye late and shook his head. He watched her as he suddenly found himself missing the feeling of having her legs around his hips as he drove her bike to the shop.

"What a ride!"

* * *

AN There you go! Chapter 4! Don't forget to review and tell me what you think!

SDR


	6. Chapter 5 Temptation

Disclaimer; Awe come on! Everyone knows who make Inu-yasha by now. Fine, Inu-yasha is not mine.

**_A Ride Called Kagome_**

**Chapter 5**

What the heck was going on?

Kagome was sure of everything up to this point. She was Hojo's girlfriend; that's all she had to keep telling herself. Yet, why was she thinking about him, and not the man she belonged to? Why was she thinking of Inu-yasha and picturing the shape of his chest under that white shirt he wore when they worked on the bike together. Would she ever know? Would she know what that chest would feel like to run her fingers over, to press her body against, to feel his chest rise and fall adjacent to hers?

"Kagome? Hey, Dreamer, wake up!" Sango hollered waving her hands in front of Kagome's face. The young girl looked up and shook her head as she came back into reality.

"Ah, an order of two beers and a bowl of nuts for table four."

Sango raised an eyebrow in concern. "Right! Kagome, your shift was over a half an hour ago. It's 7:45 now."

Kagome spun around to look at the clock on the wall behind her. "Shit! I had to be at Inu-yasha's garage at 7, I promised him. Oh man he's going to be so mad. Fuck!"

Quickly she wrapped up her school books and stuffed them into her bag as she ran out the door. A second later she came back in and took the check in Kohaku's hand that he held up for her to take by the door. A second later the engine could be heard rumbling and making its way down the street like a growling tiger.

"Oh yeah, she is so falling for him," Kohaku grinned as me leaned back in the bar stool before turning around to clean the bar table of drops of spilled alcohol and nut shells.

Sango shook her head and turned to grab her coat. "I need a walk. Can you lock up for me?"

"You're late!" Inu-yasha said when he heard her drop her coat and bag on the floor and rushed to grab the first tool her fingers wrapped around.

"I know, work was just, ah…never mind. What do you need help on?"

Inu-yasha grabbed a rag to clean his hands. "I hate bolts!"

Kagome rolled her eyes and looked at the new stubborn piece of metal Inu-yasha was complaining over. She leaned over the table that held the bike frame up. Inu-yasha took a few steps back and watched as Kagome looked over the trouble.

Without really thinking, Inu-yasha's eyes glanced down at Kagome's back side since it was just so innocently there due to the fact she bent over to look at the bike. He looked away for a moment feeling ashamed, but then found his eyes wanting to memorize the shape and curve of her "seat" since he would never get the chance to truly admire it the way his hormones wanted him to.

It was a beautiful, soft feminine asset that Kagome possessed. A curve that worked with her hips and the grooves of her sides and back, to the shape of her thighs and into the rest of her legs…it was like she was a living piece of art work that some god or goddess had taken years to create.

Kagome reached on hand out, and her shirt rode up a little to show her waist. It was here that Inu-yasha saw her first flaw; an innocent light pink horizontal scar only inches away from her spine.

Inu-yasha's brow narrowed and without really thinking got out of his seat and walked over to her. His finger slowly darted out toward the scar and he traced it gently.

Kagome jumped and turned around to meet his violet eyes. Inu-yasha blushed at his shame for lack of thought before reaction.

"Sorry!" he said sort of shrinking back from her to give her the comfortable distance she seemed to want at that moment.

Kagome, however, wanted to recall just for that one moment the warmth of his rough fingers against her soft skin. The shiver in her spine was what made her react because she had never reacted to a man's touch that way, at least not as strongly. It was like a warm ocean spray had washed over her, and now she seemed to be wondering when the warm wave was going to take over her body.

He finally turned back to her once the color in his cheeks went down. "Where did you get that scar?"

Kagome touched her back where he had touched her. "Oh, that thing," she mumbled, smiling weakly. "It's nothing really. Just an old scar from a chopper accident I had a long time ago."

Inu-yasha waited until she had turned around and her hand moved away after touching the scar with her fingertips. He touched it again, and Kagome twitched a little.

"You fall on you back or something? How did it happen?"

Kagome tried to keep her mind clear as his fingers ran down the scar and the sensations of him touching her made her have pictures in her mind about finding any scars on his body. She was comfortable with it though, it was just curiosity that made him want to inspect her.

"It's really stupid, not one of my fondest moments in my life. It's quite the ugly little thing though. Hojo tells me I should get rid of it by going to see a doctor and seeing it there's a surgery or something that can make it less visible."

Inu-yasha narrowed his brow and looked at her. "I don't see anything wrong with it. It's just a scar."

Kagome smirked as she began pulling at the bolt Inu-yasha couldn't get, and took it off. "He just thinks it's an eyesore. I can't really hide it in a bikini or anything."

Inu-yasha moved his hand away as Kagome turned back to him, dropping the bolt in his hand and walking to the bench to get the next part. He followed her. "Kagome, can I tell you something straight out?"

She turned around, her big brown eyes locking with his violet ones. Inu-yasha swallowed for a moment and looked at the bolt in his hand before putting it down on the table with the frame mounted on it. "I think that you shouldn't listen to what your boyfriend says about your scar."

Kagome looked as though she would smack him, but he forced himself to continue. 'Courage, Inu!'

"What I'm saying is…What his opinion is shouldn't matter. If you're not happy with it or if you are it should be up to you to decide."

Kagome looked at him for a moment and smiled as she cleaned her hands with a rag. "Do you really believe that?"

He nodded like his head was mounted on a spring and it was bobbling around. Kagome laughed a little and looked at him. "Good, because I wasn't going to get rid of the scar. It has too many memories behind it."

Kagome touched her back again and placed a finger over the scar. "I got it from my first drag race in the rundown area in the southern part of town. I sneaked in and followed my brother while he wasn't looking."

She smirked and laughed. "I got into a race to try and prove to him that I could be his equal. But I lost control of the bike and fell off near one of the hazards. I got stuck in the back with a piece of metal, and had to get surgery."

Inu-yasha looked at her, "So why would you want to remember that?"

She smirked again. "Because…it was the last time I saw the Dog Brothers ride, before my brother beat them. It was the last night Kouga was actually my brother, before he forgot the causes for why he was running in those drag races.

"He forgot that he had to win that night to pay for my surgery, and when he told me one of the Dog Brother's paid the price for that, I told him I hated him. So, I wear the scar in their memory, to wear the scars the Dog Brothers' had too."

There was a moment of silence before Kagome laughed a little. "They were the classiest racers I had ever seen too. They had this way of racing that seemed almost like magic, like they were one with their rides."

Kagome blushed, "I never saw their faces. But I always wondered whose face was behind the helmet with the dog ears and Wind Dog written across it." Kagome giggled, "He seemed to be the cuter one of the two as far as I could tell."

Inu-yasha did his best not to blush and fought the urge to spread a stupid grin across his face as Kagome's bubbly laughter filled the small work room and she tossed her hair over her shoulder. He decided not to say a word, and let his grin get the best of him when he finally had is back to her to look for the catalog he had on the work desk.

"Hey, you wanna help me pick out the tank for this thing?" he asked as casually as possible.

Kagome looked up from her work and smiled as she grabbed a bench and sat next to him. As the discussed what they liked and didn't like, both hardly noticed the simple brush of their arms as they pointed to tanks of different size and shape.

"Do you think we should customize one of our own?" Kagome finally asked, after fighting over the idea for days in her head.

Inu-yasha looked at all the tanks once more and then stared at the catalog as he thought before turning to her. "It would take a lot of work, and I know a place in town, a friend of mine who could help us get it in the shape we want. What did you have in mind?"

Kagome's grin lit up the room for that one moment as she jumped off her stool to open her school bag and show him the sketch.

Inu-yasha's eyes almost popped out of his head. It was shaped almost arrowhead like in the front, and it seemed to look like it would cut through the air. Kagome pointed things out and explained, "See this is where the tank it self would be and these would just be added on to cover the engine some what. It makes it less wind resistant, like it would just cut right through it."

Inu-yasha smiled at her as he flipped his braid over his shoulder and played with the end of it tugging it a little as he thought. "I like it, but it's gonna cost mega bucks to make. I'll have to work on fixing choppers and bikes in the shop for a week or two to get the kind of money I need for it."

Kagome bit her lip slightly nervous as she looked at the floor. "I'll tell you what! I'll help you find the money for the tank."

Inu-yasha looked at her slightly puzzled. "How?"

Kagome smiled even though she was nervous about the whole idea. "Just trust me; I'll get you your money."

Sango wandered around town for hours before finally stopping to look out at the salt waters and beach where couples were just wandering around aimlessly kissing and giggling.

It had been a long time since Kouga and she had actually had some time together to even do that stuff anymore. His whole life was about those damn fucking races now. It made her angry just to even look at the beach now. She missed the way it made her feel better when she had someone to share it with.

Finally getting sick of just looking at it, Sango took of her shoes and ran out to wear the salt water broke on the sand and spread across it like frosting on a cake before it receded. She forgot her shoes some yards away and let the foamy bubbles and sea spray tickle her feet and toes and her nose as she smiled.

"Sango?" a voice suddenly said.

She turned to the direction the slightly familiar voice came from and smiled warmly as he approached her. "Miroku, hi!"

He was wearing a simple white under shirt with a small oil stain on the hem, and his jeans were even worse, but his face was clean with a simple warm smile as he walked over to her with his jacket slung casually over his arm with one finger hooked under the neckline to keep it there.

"You look kind of distant there. You were dreaming about something?"

Sango wiggled her toes in the wet sand. "I hate my boyfriend," she stated simply.

He merrily snorted out of the simple humor of it all, and looked at her. "We'll if you're looking to cheat on him you've asked the wrong man…but if you want to talk I'm all ears?"

She smiled and blushed a little. "I think he's forgotten what it used to be like before he beat the Dog Brothers in the drag races. He's forgotten what matters most to him. Like his sister for example…"

Miroku grinned, "You mean you for example right?"

Sango was a little miffed at his reminder, but nodded just the same.

"I miss walking on the beach with him after dark with the full moon out, but now that I think of it, even then all he talked about was those stupid races."

Sango kicked some sand into the ocean before gasping and hopping on one foot. Miroku dropped his coat and rushed to her side. "You okay?"

Sango sucked some air through her teeth before sitting down and him sitting in front of her in the sand. "Did I cut myself? I felt something sharp!"

Miroku inspected her foot and brushed the sand way. "I don't see any bleeding, but you scratched yourself."

Sango tried to fight back the already pushing tears in her eyes. "Fuck that hurt!"

As she sniffled Miroku absentmindedly began to rub her foot as he tried to comfort her. He knew as well as she did, she wasn't crying over her foot.

"I hate him so much right now. I wish I hadn't gotten his hopes up about all of it."

Miroku chuckled quietly, "If mattered to him, so it mattered to you. You were only doing what any girl would do for a person they cared about."

Sango watched as Miroku's slightly ruff fingers rubbed the pain away from her foot, and she slowly got herself lost in the sensation it made that traveled up her leg and made her shoulders shake a little.

Miroku caught the movement of her shoulders out of the corner of his eye and looked at her slightly concerned. "Are you cold?"

Sango blushed a little. "No…It just feels good…"

Miroku looked at her foot for a moment and smiled a little. Sango felt her head race with thoughts about her boldness along with images that were both what she should do, and what she wanted to do which in themselves were both angelic and innocent, but sinful as well. One of these images included the thought of what that simple touch would feel like in other places beside her injured foot.

Suddenly, her thoughts were interrupted when they both discovered a large wave had come ashore and got them both. Sango squealed a little as Miroku swore as they both jumped to get their rear-ends out of the cold ocean water.

Miroku all though was in much worse shape than Sango however since she was in denim shorts and he was in long pants. She laughed at him as he cursed the water with an embarrassed smile.

Sango innocently shook her head and looked at him. "Hey, umm, my place isn't too far from here and I'm sure my brother wouldn't mind letting you borrow a pair of his sweat pants for the night?"

Miroku thought about the offer and then thought seriously on the matter before the wind picked up.

"Actually, that does sound a lot better than driving my bike home and not being able to feel my legs and ass due to the cold."

Sango smiled and laughed a little as she guided him to the bar and then up a fire escape staircase to the back door to the living quarters upstairs.

She turned on the light and then told him she would be right back as she sneaked into her brother's room to grab a pair of his sweat pants. When she came back she handed them to him with a smile, "Here they might be a little small since Sota is a little shorter that you, but they're dry."

He thanked her with a smile, and Sango tried her best to banish all the naughty thoughts form her head.

'Cold shower, girl! You're gonna need it anyway, you smell like low tide.'

She quickly grabbed her towel and rushed to the shower to turn on the water.

Miroku smiled a little as he pulled his shirt off and unbuttoned his pants to change. As he pulled on the sweatpants that came half way up his calves and shins, he began to untie the elastic in his hair at the base of his neck when he caught sight of pictures across the room.

He looked at all the photos, all of them pictures of family and an older man with a younger Sango and her brother. Fishing and surfing, all smiles and happiness in each picture he looked at. He had only found two pictures of Kouga and her, but other than that it seemed there were more pictures of her with this older gentleman at her side.

He had only just picked up one of the pictures with her and the older man when Sango came out of the bathroom minutes later wrapped in a towel with dripping wet black tendrils of hair.

She stopped and stared at him as she looked over his almost renaissance image of his bare upper chest and back with his hair down that only brushed the top of his shoulders at its tips.

He turned to her when he finally realized he wasn't the only one in the room anymore once again.

She smiled and laughed a little to ease the awkwardness in the mood of the room. She then walked up to his side to look at the picture he was holding. "That's my father…he was a champion surfer here in Tampa. Said it was his way of staying close to Mom after she died, and the bar was a way to make money in the family"

Miroku looked at her. "Where is he now?"

The light in Sango's eyes seemed to fade before she answered, "With Mom…"

She turned away and walked toward the door to her room and Miroku followed in order to apologize, but when she turned around he caught her glance. "Don't be sorry, please, I hear that too much already from Kouga and all his excuses as to why he cancels our dates now and never makes them anymore."

Miroku watched as tears streamed down her face, and couldn't help but wipe them away with his thumb and caress her cheeks with his finger tips as the wet strand of hair clung to his hands.

Sango looked at him and they both were silent for a moment before she spoke again. "Tell me something, Miroku?"

She swallowed hard before continuing after seeing that he was listening to her, but also trying to keep the weak feeling in her knees from making her tumble to the floor.

"How is it, that even though you're not saying anything right now…you're still managing to made me feel like I'm standing completely naked in front of you like I can't hide anything from you?"

Miroku smiled, "You are naked in front of me…well almost," he cleared his throat when he finally felt the heat and weight of the tenseness growing between them, and not being sure if he should leave even though he was technically offered to stay the night.

"I think it could just be that I know what it feels like to be where you are with nothing or no one to stand beside you most of the time…I know what it feels like to be alone."

Sango gently placed her hand against the crevice between both of his breasts before smoothing her fingertips over the top of his chest. "I thought you said you weren't the kind of man who got near women who wanted to cheat on their boyfriends?" she teased him, trying to see if he could break the mood they were so dangerously getting closer and closer to.

Miroku's voice seemed to groan a little and he leaned in closer to her face as the sensations her fingers were creating made his shoulders shake and he had to grab hold of the door posts to keep him steady as he leaned in closer to her.

"What I said was true… I don't get involved with women who are all ready in a relationship with another man."

Sango looked at him as her eyes met hers. "Then what kind of man are you, Miroku?"

He didn't smile or look away, he merely moved in for the kill and kissed her lips, and then hungered for them enough after the first taste to want to taste her even more. When he pulled away from the kiss leaving them both gasping for breath, he swallowed and said, "The kind that can't resist temptation."

Sango merely nodded and kissed him again until she pulled him closer to her and then into her room as he kicked the door shut with his heel, and followed her lead.

Hmmm, yeah…that's a good place to stop.

runs from knives and pitchforks

Review!


	7. Chapter 6 Kiss and Tell

Disclaimer; Awe come on! Everyone knows who make Inu-yasha by now. Fine, Inu-yasha is not mine.

**A Ride Called Kagome**

**Chapter 6**

Kagome was early for work that afternoon after getting out of her summer shop class. She had washed up and got into her job outfit which basically was a short shirt that hugged to her curves and a pair of low rise pants, a dress code for any Exterminators Bar employee that was female.

However, it was Sango her boss that caught her off guard when she saw her scrambling to organize hard liquor and other spirits on the shelves behind the counter. It was an event Kagome knew all to well of just what it meant. However, it baffled her completely. Sango was more of a nervous wreak than she had ever been before.

A mischievous yet curious smile spread across her face as she sat down at one of the stools and just smiled the smile that Sango knew all too well.

Kagome knew something was up, and she knew exactly what it was.

"What are you smiling at? Help me back here!"

Kagome giggled as she walked behind the counter and began helping her friend and employer with the bottles.

"What?" Sango said trying to make a desperate attempt to hide what was clearly written all over her face.

Kagome looked at her and sang teasingly as she placed two bottles on the top shelf. _"You got laid!"_

Sango snorted trying to deny her suspicion. "Yeah you wish!"

Kagome laughed, "Oh, please, you're hair is a complete rats nest, and you obviously haven't been able to concentrate on anything today. You're not even ready for happy hour."

Sango looked at her and then back at the bottles as she placed them slowly on the shelves. "Okay…I had sex, you happy now?"

Kagome giggled and clapped her hands. "Oh, at least my brother hasn't lost all of his talents."

Sango looked away from the bottles and then at the counter as she grabbed a cloth and pulled at it with her hands. "That's just it…I didn't have sex with your brother last night."

For a moment nothing could be heard until Kagome and Sango's eyes met, and the bottle of vodka slipped out of Kagome's hands. None made a single move to clean up the mess.

Kagome looked at Sango until she finally turned around and began cleaning the counter.

"I just…oh, gods, Kagome…I don't know it just kinda happened. I mean he was just…oh gods, what am I going to tell Kouga?"

Kagome watched as Sango pulled at her hair and panicked. "You had sex with another guy?"

Sango looked at her and then bit her lip at she tapped her foot and crossed her arms and then put them at her sides. "I don't know what I was thinking, I just--"

Kagome jumped over to her friend before she could complete what she was saying. Sango was completely taken back by her unexpected reaction. "What are you doing? I don't want excuses! I want details! Come on, was he any good this guy? Who was it?"

Sango felt freaked out by Kagome's excited reaction. She had completely expected the girl to scream at her for treating her brother like yesterdays news and completely handing herself over to another man she hardly even knew.

"You're not mad?"

Kagome snorted, "Mad? Why should I be mad? My brother has all but forgotten the fact he's dating you because of the races, and I was worried about you turning into this trophy of his. Come on, Sango, spill it? Who's the guy?"

Sango sighed and jumped up on the counter as she looked at Kagome. "The mechanic from the chopper shop…the new guy they hired with the short hair?"

Kagome jumped up and down as she tried to get his name off the tip of her tongue, "Miroku? You did it with him? What happened?"

Sango ran her hands over her face. "Well, see I went for a walk on the beach for a while after closing up and then we just ended up bumping into each other. Then I took him to my place after we got hit by this wave and he was soaked…Man, Kagome…you should have just seen what he looked like with just my brother's sweatpants on."

Kagome giggled, "Okay, okay, come on!"

Sango sighed as she continued. "Anyway, I took a shower and then we got to talking about my family. And then before I knew it…I seduced him…or maybe he seduced me…I don't know…but…Oh what the hell I'll just say it straight out. It was the best sex I ever had in my life."

Kagome screamed out of joy as she watched Sango smile and blush. "Oh, Sango!"

The older girl leaned back on the counter at looked at the spinning ceiling fan. "I don't know what happened last night, I mean some of it is all just a blur, but I'll tell you one thing? No man has ever made me meow the way he did. I mean, he was gentle and yet deep and filling and…oh god, and what he did with those hands. He must have like kissed me in a thousand different places, each one hot and wet…but…Kagome, it was passion, just raw passion."

Sango smiled like a school girl as she looked at her friend who gave her that 'oh-that-good-huh?' look with a smile. "It was like I made love for the first time…hell I think I did make love for the first time. I mean it was slow, but a good slow, and hot. I kept telling him not to stop and he was so good…good isn't the right word to use either, but it was far beyond amazing."

Sango sat up and shivered. "I just felt like my whole body just flew apart, and he just did it so easily to me. It was like he knew just what to do and how to do it."

Kagome giggled and then rubbed her arm. "Okay, you horny bitch, I get the picture. He's beyond amazing in bed, but you also have customers arriving in an hour and you're still not ready."

Sango moaned and hugged herself. "What am I going to tell Kouga?"

Kagome grinned, "Oh do what I do…tell him nothing at all, and let the fantasy he lives in crash down on him. No empire lasts forever."

* * *

"Oh come on! It's written all over your fucking face, you bastard!" Inu-yasha hollered as he cleaned his wrench. "You got laid!"

Miroku looked up at him from his work. "And what is it to you if I did?"

Inu-yasha let out one cry of triumph, "Ah-ha! So you did get laid? Okay, come on I need something to talk about here? Spill it!"

"No thanks! To be honest I'm not too proud of myself about it anyway. The girl has a boyfriend who's been ignoring her and I she just seduced me. I'm not good around tempting situations."

Inu-yasha snorted, "That's obvious! Come on a least tell me you made the girl meow?"

Miroku glared at him and turned back to his work on the bike. Inu-yasha smirked as he leaned over the heap he was working on. "Oh I get it!"

Miroku sighed and looked at him. "You get what?"

Inu-yasha cocked a half smile. "You liked it, didn't you? You liked it so much that you're actually going to attempt to be a gentleman about the whole thing? I call bull shit!"

Miroku growled. "Let's just say I'm not proud of it and leave it at that, will you? Jeez, it's not that big of a deal. It's not like I'm the only one."

Inu-yasha groaned, "Okay, fine…but just tell me one thing?"

"What?" Miroku hissed.

Just at that moment, Sesshoumaru came out of his office with a package under his arm. "Inu-yasha, the parts you ordered for that heap of yours in the back."

He placed the box on his work bench and Inu-yasha cleaned his hands as he walked over and grabbed his xacto knife to cut open the box. "Ah, yes the carbonator I ordered finally arrived. I can't wait to show this to Kagome."

Miroku walked on over after cleaning his hands and looked at the part. "Sweet! Where the hell did you get the money for this one? I've never seen a carbonator like this before. It looks like one of those that I see Kouga and his drag racing gang use on their bikes."

Inu-yasha smirked, "Kagome says it is but this one is different. This one has a little more power and a special filter to help make the engine run better and produce more power for speed."

Miroku snorted, "You bikers and your need for speed. You need to try and enjoy the view more and take your time. Slow down and enjoy things."

Inu-yasha felt a wicked smile spread across his face. "Is that how you like to do it? Slow and make sure they enjoy the ride?"

Miroku punched him in the arm as Inu-yasha laughed. He looked over the piece before placing it back in the box.

Miroku leaned in over his lift and picked up his drill and pulled the trigger a few times to make sure the battery in it was still working. "Okay, if you want to get anything out of me about last night, tell me what's happening between you and Kagome?"

Inu-yasha swallowed and looked at him. "Well, umm…what if I were to tell you that she kind of liked me but doesn't know she likes me?"

Miroku raised an eyebrow. "Okay, speak English. How can a girl like a guy but not know it? And for that matter how would you know she likes you, did she tell you straight out?"

Inu-yasha grabbed his drill and sighed, "Well, sort of but not really?"

Miroku looked at him frustrated. "Okay did she tell you or not? Will you stop making this confusing? This is not brain surgery!"

"She told me she had a crush on the wind dog, namely me. She saw me race a few times before her brother kicked our asses and Sess lost his arm."

Miroku nodded as he looked over the hole he had just made. "So she likes you, but she doesn't know it's you she likes?"

"Yeah, kinda…I don't know. With her having a boyfriend it kinda screws around with my head."

Miroku looked over his handy work and shrugged, "Ah well! Just give it time!" he said as he turned to look at him. "You are going to tell her who you are, won't you?"

Inu-yasha drilled his hole in the bike he was working on and then grabbed a can of oil. "I don't know…Maybe I will…"

Miroku shook his head. "Well, at least you have your experience in bed to fall back on," Miroku joked.

Inu-yasha blushed and then tried to hide it by putting all his concentration into the oil can and the tank that held it. Miroku's jaw dropped. "You mean to tell me you've never been to bed with a woman? Ever?"

Inu-yasha looked at him and almost spilled the oil can of its contents. "Hey, I wasn't the one who had sex with an unavailable chick, okay? I'm just waiting for the right time, right place, and the right girl…that's all."

Miroku smirked. "And would this girl be Kagome, then?"

Inu-yasha didn't look at him directly in the eye, but his blush was convincing enough that he had thought about it or at least dreamed about it. "Maybe…" he mumbled.

Miroku smirked proudly and turned hi back to his co-worker and cleaned his socket wrench. "Yes!"

Inu-yasha looked up at him confused, "Yes, what?"

"I made her meow!"

* * *

Hey guys sorry for the short chapter but I couldn't think of anything else. I basically wanted to end the first event for Miroku and Sango's romance, which will get more interesting as the story goes on.

Leave a review!


	8. Chapter 7 A Change in the Wind

Disclaimer; Awe come on! Everyone knows who make Inu-yasha by now. Fine, Inu-yasha is not mine.

**A Ride Called Kagome**

* * *

**Chapter 7**

Maybe she was just crazy…but she knew she had to do it; she wanted to do it.

As she cooked the spaghetti early that evening she remembered Kouga looking over her shoulder and giving her a small kiss on the shoulder. "How's my favorite girl?"

She smiled, "I'm good! How was work?"

"Still got five more bikes to finish out before the end of the week, but we won't be able to get the payment ready on time for the rent."

Kagome turned around and stared at him. "You don't have to make it seem like you're trying to hide something from me. I know you're going to the downtown area to drag race. I'm not stupid you know."

Kouga glared at her from the corner of his eye as he opened the fridge and took out the carton of milk before bringing the opening to his lips. Kagome gagged, "Aw, for Christ's sake, use a glass like normal people. I wash them everyday for a reason."

He finished the milk off and continued to give his sister the silent treatment. He watched as she drained the water from the pasta and then dumped it into a bowl. "Stop looking at me like I'm one of your competitors and sit down and eat."

Kouga did so and grabbed the tomato sauce putting it down on his plate first before a lump of tangles spaghetti noodles on top of it and another spoonful of sauce. Kagome watched him as she served herself, doing the same thing. They were both silent as their forks scraped the plates as the pasta wound itself around them.

"I know you hate this, you can't hide that from me either."

"Is it too much to ask that I want to know I'll have a brother in the morning? These races have become your life since the day the Dog Brothers lost to you. One of those brothers lost his arms, and you were too lost in your own pride to even care."

His fork clanged on the plate as he got up from his seat and marched for the door. "I told the gang I'd meet them by the shop. I'll see you later tonight."

Kagome got up from her seat and rushed to the door and held her hand against it before he could open it. He glared at her, but she only returned it. "Do you even think about Sango anymore? When was the last time you went to see her? Don't you think you should at least call her?"

Kouga grabbed hold of the doorknob and gave the door a tug opening it slightly before Kagome closed it. "Do you care about anything anymore?"

He snapped, "I care about you! I race these things in order to take care of you. That has always been the reason why."

"Yeah, sure!" she hissed, "That and the prize money!"

Kouga glared at her, even if the truth stung.

He pulled hard at the door and Kagome gave up as he stormed through the door tell her, "I'll be home late!"

When the door closed hard, Kagome winced a little before glaring at entrance into the apartment. She then walked in a circle for a moment until she heard his motor start and then faded as it pulled away. She waited until it was almost just out of hearing before smiling with excitement and then rushing into her room to change out of her knee high skirt and t-shirt and then running across the living room in a tight sports bra and underwear to her brother's room.

She quickly opened his closet and pulled out his old leather bike pants and the baggiest jacket he had. Grabbing one of his under shirts she pulled it over her head before pulling on the pants and the jacket. Then grabbing the old boots he no longer wore she pulled them over her feet and pulled a pair of gloves on.

It was then that she ran back to her room and began to pin her hair up into a tight bun in the back of her head.

Once her hair was in place she nodded and opened the door that lead to the garage below the apartment. She looked at her bike as she turned on the light. And then she stopped herself.

_'I can't use my bike…he'd know it was me for sure!'_

Kagome discovered she was in her first difficult spot. She couldn't use her bike, and nor could she use her own helmet.

She sat of the steps trying to think as the time passed. Kagome turned to her bike as an idea came into her head. Slowly, she took a deep breath ready to take the risk.

Kagome climbed on her bike and grabbed her helmet and as the door rolled up she backed her bike out. She drove down the streets making her way down to the last place she knew where she might be able to at least "barrow" some cover.

She shut down her engine before she got to the front of Dog Duo Repair and Body. Slowly, Kagome backed her bike into the small alley beside the building and grabbed the key in her pocket that Inu-yasha had given her to get into the building. She looked to see if anyone was around before looking at the pile of finished bikes that Inu-yasha and Miroku had placed with great care into the corner of the garage, each one awaiting its master to come and retrieve it in the morning.

Kagome slowly looked over each one as she tried to find one that was right for her cause. The best one she could find was a simple motorcycle that was sleek and carried an engine powerful enough for her cause.

"Well, you're not my brother's bike, but you will have to do. I only have to get second place and I'll have enough money for the tank I need for the bike."

Kagome slowly looked at the rack of keys to try and see if she could find the right one for it. "Now for the really hard part."

Slowly Kagome looked over each key with great care until she discovered none of the keys were the right ones. "Jeez, where do they keep the keys for these things?"

"Not out in the open, that's for sure!" a familiar voice said from behind her. She almost screamed if it hadn't been for the hard hand that clasped over her mouth and hushed her. In the dim light she could just make out his face enough to recognize him, "Imu-mahshah!"

He removed his hand from her face and looked at her. "What do you think you're doing? If you've come looking for trouble you're in the wrong place."

Kagome felt her tongue freeze on her as she tried to think of a lie, but she just couldn't bring herself to lie to him. She sighed long and hard, "I need a bike."

"You have one!"

"I can't use mine! My brother will recognize me if I do!" she pleaded with him grabbing hold of his shirt. "Please, Inu-yasha, I'm begging you! I just need to borrow it for one night, I swear. I'll bring it back untouched, the owner will never know."

Inu-yasha quirked and eye brow as he tried to keep his balance after the girl threw herself at him. He had wished she had done this for a different reason. "Just what do you plan on doing with it?"

Kagome hesitated before prying herself away from him. "I need it for a race tonight. There's a 750 prize for the second place winner."

Inu-yasha looked at her with concern and worry written all over his face. "You're crazy! You're going to risk you're life out there for that kind of money? You're brother would agree with me I bet if I told you it's not worth it. Go home, Kagome!"

He began to turn away from her, but her hands grabbed hold of his bare arm and inflicted a desperate death grip on it. "Please, Inu-yasha? I'm doing this to get the money for the bike's tank. The money will be more than enough. Please, I want to do this for the bike…for you?"

When she said those words his heart almost stopped beating and he looked at her with large violet eyes of shock. Her almost ready to cry face made him want to kiss her until he knew for sure she wasn't going to break down in front of him. But he couldn't give in. He must not give into those beautiful pleading blue eyes that haunted his dreams. The pouting pink lips that he wanted to feel pressed against his. The tremor in her arms and body that he could feel around his arm. No, he would not give in! No way in hell!

"Fine!"

Kagome squealed for joy and jumped up and down before planting a small quick kiss on his lips, making his heart beat louder to confirm he wasn't dead.

He touched his lips to try and keep the air from cooling the warmth she left on them, and wished if it had not been so sudden that he would have returned it.

"Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!" she said as she hugged him. He snapped back into reality and pulled her away from him, wishing he didn't have to.

"Yeah, whatever, look! You can take the bike, but I'm going with you!"

Kagome looked at him a bit perplexed. "Oh, don't worry, Inu-yasha, I'll be fine!"

The girl watched as Inu-yasha's words caught in his through and he blushed. She giggled as he turned to look away from her. "I only want to go to make sure nothing happens to that bike. I have to keep a business going to, and it would not be cool if a customer's bike just suddenly disappeared into thin air for no reason at all."

Kagome giggled as she continued to watch his blush as it faded away. "Sure, okay! So, just how do you plan to do that? It's hard to watch from the side lines.

Inu-yasha grinned as he looked her straight in the face. "Whoever said I was going to watch?"

* * *

The silver bike raced down the road, Inu-yasha with a silver domed helmet with a red bug shield in his work jeans and black bike boots. His long braid of hair flapped in the wind as Kagome clung to him tightly, her arms gripping his sides. 

"You must be crazy. Have you ever been to the course downtown?" she yelled.

"Which one, there's about five of them in that area?"

Kagome looked at him and rested her chin on his shoulder, "My brother does the one run by Stinky Pete off the highway. He does that one every year before going to the Saturday night one run by Hazard John by the old tunnel and bridge."

"That one? He runs his drag bike on that wimpy course?"

"No, not the Howler, he drives only what he needs to win in that one. The Howler was build for Hazard John's course only."

Inu-yasha looked at the road ahead and drove faster, smiling under the cover of his helmet when Kagome winced and gripped his sides harder.

When they got to the hill that over looked the course below Inu-yasha stopped and looked everything over. "Okay, this is wear you get off."

"Oh, no way! This is my race, I'm getting that money."

Inu-yasha turned around in the seat and took off his helmet and looked at her. "Have you ever done Stinky Pete's course before?"

"No, but I know I can drag-race a lot better than a mechanic like you. You've never done this kind of thing before."

Inu-yasha didn't look at her as he rolled up his braid and tucked it into the helmet. "Give me your gloves!"

Kagome took off the biker gloves and handed them to him as he put them on. "Now, get off and wait here until I get back."

"No! This is my race!"

"You run in this race and you risk you're brother finding you out and I risk my job if this bike gets busted and you get hurt. Stay here and outta sight!"

Kagome huffed as she got off the bike and he revved the engine. She was mad as she took off her helmet and glared at him. "You sound like my brother."

"Well, at least he hasn't lost all his reason then."

Inu-yasha revved the engine and got ready to go, until he heard Kagome's voice again. "Inu-yasha?"

He stopped and looked at her. Kagome's anger had all but melted away as she looked at him with sad eyes, but there was a hint of worry as well deep inside the blue pools. She hesitated before taking a step up to him again and lifting his helmet enough to expose his lips and brush her lips against his softly and press them to his.

It was short, but innocent. The kind of kiss you would give someone only if you were concerned for them, like they were begging you in a silent way that they needed you to come back.

Inu-yasha would have thought he was in heaven if his mind wasn't screaming, _'I can't breathe! I can't breathe! Holy Shit! She's kissing me! She's really kissing me!'_

When the warmth of her lips left his again, he felt winded and lost in the slight fog. But the moment only lasted until the reminder that she had a boyfriend came back into his head. It was a kiss of concern, for good fortune.

She smiled at him as she stepped away and pulled her black locks away from her face. "Good Luck!" she whispered just loud enough for him to hear it over the pounding of the engine.

He stared at her for a moment and the nodded as he let out the cutch and gave the engine gas as he drove down the hill the wind making his white tank shirt flap in the wind.

Inu-yasha was once again one with the wind, the rush and the feel of his body as the bike pushed him closer and closer to the race. He felt like he was once again himself, the Wind Dog he had always been, only this time secretly creeping on to the scene incognito, but the wind that encircled him and his ride was the same.

The only thing that was different was the rush of adrenaline that picked up as he licked his lips to find any small trace of the taste of Kagome's lips and the feeling that told him fuck second place.

This race was his!

* * *

Okay…yeah…a cliff hanger…again… 

Oh deal!

If I get 10 reviews I will post the next chapter with in ten days of the tenth review okay?

So what are you doing? You just gonna sit there? Review, Damn it!

:D Hope you enjoyed, guys!


	9. Chapter 8 Dirty Little Secrets

Disclaimer; Awe come on! Everyone knows who made Inu-yasha by now. Fine, Inu-yasha is not mine.

* * *

**A Ride Called Kagome**

**Chapter 8**

* * *

Did he know what he was getting into? Yes 

Did he know who and what he would be facing? Yes

Did he know if he was completely sane at that moment? Most likely not since Inu-yasha could still feel the tingle of Kagome's lips on his.

He had to shake it out of his head and concentrate on what was a head of him. It had been months since he was on a drag race course and the image of his brother skidding on the ground as sparks flew around him would not leave his mind. It mentally put him through a reality check that not only was he putting his job and client's ride at stake, but his life as well for prize money to get the tank Kagome and he needed for the custom made one back in the shop. Heck if he got 1st place and placed a few bets, he just might have enough for the back and front fenders as well.

As he drove to the entrance, he watched as the biker chicks walked by with their biker boyfriends, and the painted metal rides that crossed his path as he slowed to a halt.

He surveyed his surroundings until he found Kouga and his gang smoking a butt and looking at the competition, every single one of the Howlers gang looked the same way they did the last and first time he saw them on the race track. Cocky grins and evil smiles that told every rider there that this was the wrong biker gang to mess with. The bad boys of the race track and the kings that won each race were not to be messed with.

Now Inu-yasha was there, the Wind Dog that took their beating the first day they had arrived on the tracks and took the honor out of being respectable riders on the tracks. They took the feeling of the ride right out of every race. There was no rush, only envy, greed, and reputation. An empire that seemed like it was immortal…but Inu-yasha knew history had a horrible lesson for Kouga and Howlers to learn, and that was that no empire lives forever, and that your past always comes back to bite you.

Though, his thoughts on beating Kouga that night were interrupted when he saw a large fat man with two girls clinging to each of his arms as he waddled over to him.

"Youse must be new on this track. I ain't neva seen youse before."

Inu-yasha held his breath, remembering that Stinky Pete held to his title. He fixed his helmet to try and dilute the smell from sinking through, but it was of little success.

"Trying out new tracks in the area," he said through his helmet. "I hear Kouga of the Howlers is running tonight, and I want the chance to smear his face on the track," It was true, he did want to put Kouga to shame, but at the same time he wanted to keep it clean. He was a racer of class and style, not a bully. Yet, to sound like that in front of Stinky Pete would have sent him packing, and it might have also given his cover away. He had to sound like a rookie.

Track owners loved rookies mostly because it gave them a chance to get fresh blood on the track and send the wimps home crying. It was to show the boys who the real men were, and Stinky Pete was a man to teach every boy his first lesson in manhood.

"Heh! A rookie, huh? Wells I hates to disappoint chya, but Kouga ain't racing tonight."

The news took Inu-yasha by surprise and the shock went right through him, along with the disappointment.

Pete continued and pointed the group out. "The Howler's have their rookie on the track tonight. He's won 3 of my races in the past month."

Inu-yasha looked to the side to see Kouga patting a guy dressed in leather with brown hair. The familiar face hit his memory hard, and the jealousy raged in his chest.

"The kid's name is Hojo, and he's the one running in tonight's race. If he wins this one, he becomes a member of the Howlers, and the bets on him winning are high."

Inu-yasha sat back in the bike as he thought over his chances. He versus a new kid that had already won three races on Stinky Pete's track had their advantages and disadvantages. One thing was that Hojo had been on the track with a rookie's good fortune; he was also up to date having been on the track with no little time between each race, while Inu-yasha had not been on the tracks for months.

The biggest part of this dilemma being that his was Kagome's boyfriend, and he wasn't sure how everything would turn out if she saw him beat her boyfriend; would she be mad, or would she see him differently?

He shook the thoughts from his head and reminded himself of why he was there. He just had to win this race and get his bike done without anyone knowing he was there. His brother would never know, Kouga wouldn't, Hojo wouldn't, and no one else. He was safe undercover and by tomorrow no one would even care, right? He would only be news for tonight and then it would all be over.

"I'd like to make a bet of 100 bucks on myself, if I get in second place."

Pete looked at the bill held out before him as he wrapped his greedy hand around the bill. "That goes up double if you come in first then. The prize is 1,000 to the first place winner and any bets that come along with it. Right now the stakes for Hojo being first are in his favor, but if you can bet him rookie, youse got close to 2,000 bucks in your pocket and a girl to help you keep your bed warm."

Inu-yasha smirked under his helmet. "Minus the girl and give me the money you pay her to sleep with me and you have yourself a deal."

Pete grinned, "And your name, rookie?"

Inu-yasha pulled out another fifty and handed it to him, "You get to keep this if you forget the name."

Pete licked his lips and took the bill from his hand. "Pleasure doing business with you, Bullet!"

Inu-yasha shook his hand and then whipped it on his shirt. Bullet? Gads, that was a cheesy name…course a fifty wasn't going to get him any better, he knew that.

Kagome on the other hand ran to the nearest roof top to watch the race from afar and sat alone on the top on the edge of the building with her feet dangling on the side. She watched as Inu-yasha drove around to his place in the line up, waiting until it was time to go.

She then looked around for her brother and found him lounging, not looking like he was ready for anything. This baffled her until she saw him get up and face the man putting his riding gloves on. She saw Kouga hand him is helmet and she gasped when she caught sigh of his face. Her boyfriend Hojo was riding tonight?

Her anger fumed at the thought that her brother actually did this to her, he actually tried to recruit her own boyfriend into his stupid group? How could he? "You fucking Bastard!"

Her gaze then turned and looked at Inu-yasha as he strode his bike to his starting line up and Hojo drove slowly up beside Stinky Pete.

At that moment, she prayed Inu-yasha would win so that her boyfriend would loose. She knew Kouga had his gang win four races in a row before inducting them into the Howlers. She didn't want him to be put into the life her brother ran. She couldn't live her life with the two men who mattered most to her risking their lives.

_'Please, Inu-yasha…please don't let him win.'_

Inu-yasha turned on his engine letting it warm up again after it cooled for the five minutes before the race. He straightened out his helmet and tugged at his gloves as he looked over the bike which was the only thing he had that could get him through this race.

It was then that he jumped when he felt a shower of mud splatter all over him. Angrily he swore and whipped the mud from his visor before turning to his right to see who had splattered him and the bike that was not his, praying he hadn't scratched the paint.

The racers around him laughed as he turned to look Hojo in the eye. "So, a rookie thinks he can beat me, huh? You should know that I won't let anything get in the way of me making the Howlers, tonight. I've worked to hard to get on Kouga's good side, even going as far as dating his looser little sister. I'll let you know right now, rookie. You beat me tonight, and you'll wish you had never been here tonight."

The riders around them howled and whistled as Hojo put his helmet on that depicted a red dragon on it engulfed in flames.

Inu-yasha grounded his anger and felt his heart clench at the sound of Kagome's name. This guy really didn't care about her? Now how the hell was he supposed to face Kagome if he beat him?

One thing was true…no one insulted the girl he longed to be with, even if it was one of the men standing in his way from doing so.

He'd pay…dearly!

_'He's not the one she kissed for good luck tonight. No way are you gonna let him have it, Inu-yasha. You've got Kagome's kiss on your lips, not this looser. You know who she wants to win this race. Remember that rush…it's that rush that's gonna get you through this. You're gonna do this for her. You're gonna do this to prove once and for all, that you know you love that girl, and you're not gonna let this looser have a piece of that. You've got her good luck kiss…and you'll be the one who gets her victory kiss to by the end of this.'_

Inu-yasha looked at the winding swerving muddy dirt road ahead of him. He knew he'd be cleaning this bike until it shined all night until the morning.

He revved the engine until he could just hear it over the sound of the howling engine beside him. Inu-yasha wiped away the dirt from his visor with his arm until he could see clearly.

He watched the road as Stinky Pete's girls walked in front of him and riders whistled and howled. Inu-yasha focused on the felling of the engine vibrating underneath his groin. He was ready for what was most likely going to be the longest ride of his life.

The scarves when up into the air and the wind picked up around them making them flap in the wind. It made the mud on his dirty arm cool and began to dry.

The biker chicks looked like cats as they hissed and brought their scarves down. Inu-yasha let the clutch go with flick of his wrist and the dust flew up from behind them, and he embraced the wind that engulfed him as he rode.

Hojo and two other riders took the lead in front of him as the rest cough on the dirt and mud that they left them in.

But the race had just begun, and the wind was on his side…Kagome's kiss was on his side.

_Well well well_

_I feel just like I'm fallin' in love_

_There's a new cool_

_Some kind of verbooty_

_That fits me like a velvet glove_

_And it's cool_

_Shu bop a doo ba_

_She's talkin' to me Juba to Jive_

_Yeah, the girl's in love_

_No doubt about it_

_The moment of truth has arrived_

_And in a wink_

_The funk was all around me_

_And I think_

_I'm dead in love again_

_Nine Lives - Feelin' lucky_

_Nine Lives - Live again_

_Nine Lives - It ain't over_

_Nine Lives - Live for ten_

Inu-yasha swerved past the third driver coming up in front of him. Though there was jealousy as the driver he passed rubbed against his back fender. Inu-yasha glanced behind him and saw his white teeth through the dirt that covered his face.

Inu-yasha turned around, and pulled at his gas and then swerved hard to his right as he took a sharp turn, the rider behind him didn't see it and drove up and over the mound of dirt only to land in the large puddle behind it.

Inu-yasha turned up his gas and tailed the person in second place.

_I got good luck_

_In certain situations_

_I'm feelin' like I hung the moon_

_And then at times_

_I'm so weak from lovin'_

_I couldn't even carry a tune_

_But now I'm back_

_Oh yes I am_

_I maybe fall apart at the seams_

_I had a nightmare_

_Believe me when I tell you_

_Nobody ever dies in their dreams_

_I think I need a stay of execution_

_In a wink, I'm dead in love again_

_Nine Lives - Puss booty_

_Nine Lives - Live again_

_Nine Lives - It ain't over_

_Nine Lives - Live for ten_

Inu-yasha drove up along side the second place rider, and made eye contact with him. The rider seemed to be in disbelief as well that the 'rookie' was right beside him.

He growled as both of them looked at the small mounds of dirt that came up ahead of them, knowing this required control. Inu-yasha watched as Hojo a head of them took each jump with an easy cocky stride almost. Inu-yasha made eye contact with the rider beside him, each one edging the other on, as if daring the other one to try their luck.

Inu-yasha felt the wind flare up around him, as he took the jumps in stride, the rider beside him in complete unison. The biker laughed as he went to kick Inu-yasha's bike and throw him off balance. Inu-yasha recovered and glared at the rider beside him until he took his hand off the gas handle to give him the finger, and lost power throwing him off balance enough to throw the bike over and crash into the side guards.

Inu-yasha shook his head, and kept his focus as he gained speed on Hojo.

_Well well well_

_Engine room to bombardier_

_Is this a dream?_

_I died and went to Heaven_

_She's enough to make you_

_Cry in your beer_

_How can a good thing_

_7 come 11_

_Slip into a fare thee well_

_And how can one man's_

_Little bit o' Heaven_

_Turn into another man's Hell_

_I think I need a stay of execution_

_Yeah I know, I'm dead in love again_

Hojo laughed as we went through the snaking curves as lights flashed over him as he passed, he looked behind him to see if anyone was following him and snickered as he reduced his speed a little. He laughed only for a moment, until he saw Inu-yasha pull up beside him. Give a little wave and then hit the gas, giving Hojo mere seconds to catch up with him until they drove side by side in the final winding stretch to the finish.

_Nine Lives - Hello lucky_

_Nine Lives - Live again_

_Nine Lives - It ain't over_

_Nine Lives - Try for ten_

Hojo revved his bike and hit the side of Inu-yasha's bike, trying to throw him off balance or at least break his concentration. Inu-yasha watched him and he bared his teeth to him and growled.

Inu-yasha tried to focus and shifted his gear. Hojo, hit his bike again, effectively denting the back fender and scratching it. It did nothing to effect Inu-yasha's speed, but it interrupted his train of thought for a moment.

Hojo laughed as he pulled ahead just enough to put an inch between his bike and Inu-yasha's.

Inu-yasha clenched his jaw together and the wind picked up around him again.

_Nine Lives - Taken over_

_Nine Lives - Live again_

He was going to win this, he thought to himself as his front wheel drove up beside Hojo's back wheel and the finish line came into view.

_Nine Lives - It ain't over_

_Nine Lives - Live for ten_

Kagome covered her eyes and peeked through her fingers. Inu-yasha was half way beside Hojo.

_Nine Lives - Hello lucky_

_Nine Lives - Live again_

Their bikes were side by side, and Inu-yasha cracked at the gas as far as he could without loosing control. It was going to be close. The final few feet came and the wind silenced the howling with a loud pop.

_Nine Lives - It ain't over_

_Nine Lives - …_

Hojo's engine popped and stalled and Inu-yasha found an extra foot in the last second as he crossed the finish line, beating the three time champ.

_Live for ten_

The crowd screamed and Kagome almost fell off the building edge she was sitting on.

"The Bullet, won! Grand Prize goes to the rookie!"

Stinky Pete handed the share of money to Inu-yasha and before anyone could pull off his helmet, he drove to the hill where he knew he would find Kagome, and escape being the mysterious shadow that had beat Hojo at his own game.

* * *

"WE WON!" Kagome screamed for the five billionth time that night as Inu-yasha fixed the dent and paint job on his client's bike. He sighed and rubbed his eyes as he looked at the clock with its red light number glaring a cursing 3:30AM. 

He looked over the bike, to make sure it looked completely untouched and then mentally gave himself a pat on the back for working his best and fastest all in one night. Kagome continued to squeal and separate the 20s, 50s, and the few 100s they had.

"Two thousand three hundred fifty bucks ahead, whoever knew first place would be so sweet, and Hojo didn't get pulled into Kouga's gang either. This is great, and we'll even be able to pay for a killer paint job with this money too, Inu-yasha isn't that great?"

Inu-yasha glared at her, hardly believing his ears that she was actually happy her boyfriend lost. Yet, it angered him because she was so blind to the fact he was just using her to get into Kouga's gang in the first place.

He didn't answer her question as he took up the money and turned off the light over his work bench. Kagome looked at him strangely before watching him walk up to the apartment door. She followed him and then marched after him before he could close the door to the upper loft.

"Hey, what's wrong? Why do you hate me all of the sudden?"

Inu-yasha stopped dead in his tracks, feeling guilt hit him hard in the pit of his stomach. It wasn't her fault Hojo was using her, so why the fuck was he taking this out on her?

He turned and looked at her.

"I'm sorry, Kagome…I just remembered something Hojo told me after he splashed the half ton of mud and dirt all over me."

Kagome looked at him and giggled a little. He quirked a brow, "What?"

Kagome walked up to him and let her finger trail from his neck up to his chin wiping a few clumps from the small area her finger touched. Inu-yasha closed his eyes for a moment as she laughed at the large clump of dirt on her finger. "He got you good, didn't he? Your shirt took the worst of it though."

She pinched his shirt and stuck her tongue out teasingly as the filth. Inu-yasha let a small, soft laugh escape him as he picked up the hem of his shirt. "Ah, it's nothing a little bleach can't handle."

Without thinking at all, Inu-yasha took one small step to the side and opened a closet with a washer and dryer. Kagome watched him, until she saw him cross his arms and pull the shirt up, and the moment it covered his face and she got an eye full of his body, she turned away and felt the blood rush to her face.

She glanced over her shoulder and looked at the hard muscles of his back as they moved while Inu-yasha opened the washer to toss the dirty shirt in, and then turn around and itch his slightly toned stomach.

Kagome turned away and looked to the kitchen on the other side of the loft. "Umm, you want some coffee or something?" she said trying to erase the images of his body doing things she knew she should be picturing in her perverted head.

Inu-yasha looked at her and shook his head as he glanced at the kitchen. "Naw, I'm all set, but if you want something help yourself, there's hot chocolate in the right hand cubbyhole. I'm gonna shower up."

Kagome nodded with a smile, "okay!"

Inu-yasha turned around and she did too when she heard the sound of his belt coming unbuckled through the door.

The water began to run and Kagome turned her attention to the row of cubbyholes on the wall and under the counter. "On the right…chocolate, hot chocolate…" she chanted as she decided to open and close each door on the right starting with the farthest and not finding it. She kneeled down, "Oh come on, where are you?"

She opened the last cubbyhole on the far left and glanced quickly before closing it with a loud groan, and then she stopped herself and opened it again slowly. She pulled out boxes of cleaner and bottles of title floor soap, until she got to the object that had caught her eye. It was wrapped in a large white towel, and she slowly took hold of it and pulled it out. She slowly began to uncover the object. "A helmet?" she whispered to herself as she removed the towel. Slowly she removed it to the point she could see one side with the words written in silver, "Wind Dog". Kagome gasped as she slowly uncovered the rest, looking a the large gashes that scared it's top and side, marring the paint job done on one of the pained white dog ears and the whips of white paint over the black helmet.

"Oh my God!" she whispered, as images and memories came back to her of the last time she had seen this helmet. It was like she had seen a ghost.

She touched the gashes and felt her knees give out as she fell to the floor and couldn't help but cry. Kagome felt the scar on her back tingle and she felt the scar that disfigured the helmet she held in her hands and lap.

"I'm so sorry…I didn't know…I'm so sorry…" she said as tears fell on the slashed helmet.

* * *

Inu-yasha let the water run over him as his thoughts ran through his head of what Hojo had said to him before the race had begun. How could a guy like him think he could treat Kagome like that? This girl that seemed like she was happy all the time, unless you mentioned her brother and how he ruined her life with the guilt she bore taking the two men she admired most out of the thing they loved. 

He wanted to tell her everything. Inu-yasha wanted nothing more than to run out of that shower, gather her up spill the beans and hold her as she cried in denial before accepting it, and then melt into his arms and let him kiss her until all of the pain was replaced by a sweet heat and pleasure he longed to share with her.

It was a nice fantasy, but he didn't want to take her that way. He wanted to be the hero, but not the bearer of bad news. It was up to Hojo to tell her. He would break up with her sooner or later now that he knew he wasn't going to get into the Howlers since Inu-yasha beat him in tonight's race.

With a heavy sigh he washed the soap and shampoo from his hair and turned the water off.

* * *

Kagome's attention broke when she heard the water stop running and she quickly grabbed the towel that she had let fall carelessly to her side. Hastily she wrapped the helmet and tucked it back into its hiding place and put the soaps and cleaners back. 

Inu-yasha walked out of the bathroom with a towel wrapped around his waist and grabbed a pair of sweat pants. He pulled them on under the towel and removed it from around his waist before walking into the kitchen while toweling his hair.

"I can't find the hot chocolate mix," he heard a slightly disappointed and shaky voice say from the kitchen.

He narrowed his brow as he walked into the kitchen shirtless still tying the drawstring that held his pants around his waist. "Here," he said as he opened the cubby on the left side pulling out the box of mix.

"That's on the left, you told me it was on the right."

"It is," he protested before mentally slapping himself. "I meant from the sink looking back. Sorry, that's how my brother and I have always done it."

Kagome opened the box as Inu-yasha pulled out a mug from the other side.

"I don't think I've met your brother yet, have I?"

Inu-yasha thought for a moment. "No, I don't think you have."

Kagome smiled as she pushed a piece of hair behind her ear, and grabbed the pot to boil some water on the stove. Inu-yasha watched her for a moment, and found that the way she walked and turned the knob to put the back burner on high seemed almost sexual. It was slow and her touch soft yet strong.

It was then that he knew he was tired, and left her in the kitchen to go and set up the sofa bed.

Kagome watched him, not asking what he was doing, and found she was thinking about what Sango had told her about the night she had spent with Miroku. Wondering to herself if she had enough guts to do the same that night. Yet, she didn't want to do that. She knew the kind of person she was, and on what terms she and Inu-yasha were on. They were partners working on a project, a bike built for speed.

But…what would become of them once the project was done?

"Hey, Inu-yasha?" she asked hesitantly, as he turned to look at her; his amethyst eyes glowing back at her to the point they almost looked like a dark lilac.

"Umm, do you have any sweatpants I could barrow for the night?"

Inu-yasha wasn't really sure what to say. Technically he had not invited her to stay the night, and yet at the same time he didn't know if he should let her go home at such a late hour.

Inu-yasha scratched his head t think a moment as he went to the shelves above the washer and drier where he kept his clothing. He pulled down a pair of baggy red and green plaid pajama bottoms and tossed them to her. Kagome smiled at him and ran to their bathroom.

The whole small washroom was still filled with thick moisture in the air. Yet, she could smell the musk scent of his soap and shampoo. For a bathroom owned by two men, it was awfully clean.

_'They must have someone do it for them,'_ she thought.

Kagome pulled the leather pants and jacket off her sighing in relief when her legs could finally breathe again. She stripped to her white sports bra and panties again and pulled Inu-yasha's pajama pants on and tied the draw string at the top to keep them around her waist. The bottoms were a bit too long and covered her tiny feet, but she laughed and let them flop around her heels so that she could still see her toes which she wiggled as she looked them over.

It was funny wearing his clothing for the first time, and she liked the sense of security she felt wearing them. They were warm and comforting, and she felt a little sexy about wearing them. It was strange…not the norm, but it felt right.

She looked around the room a moment and plucked an elastic from a plastic bag filled with them. Kagome twisted her hair into a messy bun and secured it with the black band before walking out.

"There, how's that?"

Inu-yasha finished setting up the bed and turned to look at her when she came out of the bathroom. He wasn't quite sure what to say. It wasn't like he hadn't seen Kagome in a sports bra before; she usually stripped down to one when they worked on the bike. Yet the sight of her in his clothing seemed to make him want to be possessive of her, it was like the pants made her his because they belonged to him. He liked it…even though he was wishing he had given her a shirt instead so he could see her legs instead since it had been sometime since the last time he saw them.

"You look fine to me. Are they comfortable for you?"

"Uh-huh" she nodded with a smile.

The pot began to whistle and she went to take it off the burner and then stir the cocoa mix with a spoon. She licked it clean and put it in the sink before walking into the living room where Inu-yasha began to climb into bed pulling the covers and blanket over his body.

"If it hadn't been Hojo running in that race, do you think you still would have tried to win it?"

Inu-yasha looked at her strangely and turned over on his back to look up at the ceiling. "I don't know… I guess I probably would if I wanted to give myself the chance."

Kagome took a sip of the cocoa and ran her finger around the rim of the mug. "Would you have tried to beat my brother if he ran?"

He looked at her, and took a moment to give her answer. "Your brother isn't my main concern. He's not the reason I wanted to win tonight, nor was the money."

Kagome put her mug down on the table beside the sofa bed. "What would make you race then?"

Inu-yasha smirked with a slight laugh and Kagome stretched out beside him on the other side of the bed. "The rush…the feel of the wind wrapping itself around my body…it's the next best thing to sex, I guess."

Kagome laughed, "Oh, and what would you know about sex, Mr. Rush?"

Inu-yasha didn't answer for a moment. "I don't…I've never been that way with anyone. I want to be in love first before I do something like that."

Kagome found his answer admirable and it gave him this completely different view of who he was. Inu-yasha was no longer a mechanic in her eyes, nor the drag racer she had discovered him to be.

"I don't want you to face my brother in a drag race, and I don't want you to join the Howlers either," Kagome said to him bluntly.

He looked at her ready to ask her why.

"I don't have a lot of friends, Inu-yasha, mostly because they use me to get to Kouga. I don't want to be hurt that way. You're the first person I've every known who hasn't been in this for only the money."

She curled up some ways away from him and tucked her hands under her head as her toes touched his leg to help her keep her knees bent.

"I want us to stay friends even after this project is over, okay? I don't want to give this up just yet. Promise me, you'll still be my friend when this is over?"

Inu-yasha watched her as she closed her eyes and he turned and looked up at the ceiling and his hand gripped her tiny foot softly where her body touched his. "I promise…I'll be your friend. I'll protect you from being hurt again."

"Thank you!"

There was a long moment of silence as Inu-yasha stared at the ceiling loosing himself in his thoughts. "Kagome?" he said turning to her, only to discover she was fast asleep.

He smiled and leaned in to gently kiss her forehead. "Sleep well."

* * *

Wow! That was a long chapter! Okay so I only got 9 reviews before I posted again, but I couldn't hold it in any longer… 

See, even I broke under the tension of the cliff hanger. It happens to be all the time.

Tell me what you think, was this good or bad?

Review

Edit 2/24/05 > I realized I had forgotten the scene where Kagome changes into sleepwear and asks Inu-yasha for the sleeping pants. My bad, I hope you guys think it's cute though. Chapter 15 is up in "A Lifeitme Loving You" on for all you readers out there.

Have any questions that you want answered about stories? Don't hesitate to IM me!

AIM StonDragnRuby


	10. Chapter 9 Just Friends

Disclaimer; Awe come on! Everyone knows who made Inu-yasha by now. Fine, Inu-yasha is not mine.

* * *

**A Ride Called Kagome**

**Chapter 9

* * *

**

Sesshoumaru groaned as he shuffled to the side of his bed to sit up and scratch the back of his head. He leaned his weight on his one arm and then slowly got up on to his feet. He looked in the mirror wondering what his brother would think of him now when he suddenly discovered his brother no longer looked the same any more.

Rin had done it! The girl he had been dating and slept with for three months had finally done it. She had convinced him that platinum blonde hair looked good on him, and he was surprised to discover that she was right all long.

He dragged himself to his door and opened it as he once again engaged in his morning ritual of scratching his balls and yawning before his eyes fell on his dear younger brother.

Sess had expected to find the young man spread across the sofa bed snoring away as he enjoyed a dream of making love to a beautiful woman. Instead, before him he though he had woken up inside of Inu-yasha's dream itself. He had to rub the fog from his eyes just to believe what he was seeing.

There before him he watched Inu-yasha cradle his head on his arm with his other hanging over the hip of the young girl he had been talking about for weeks. The funny thing about it was that she didn't seem to concerned about how close they were in the bed together, either. Her head was tucked under his chin with her hand spread over the center of his breast where his heart pulsed softly as he slept.

If it had not been for the fact he had seen her sports bra a moment later as he looked over the scene he would have thought they had finally admitted to each other that they had the hots for the other. The scene spoke the same message they had been giving off all along. No confessions made, but the comfort was there and the trust as well.

Sesshoumaru smirked as he walked into the kitchen and proceeded to make the morning coffee to start the day. Thank God it was only Saturday; it meant that they could close up shop early and get the weekend started.

He pressed the button and when to the closet where the dry was and pulled out one of his white shirts and pulled it on. The slight clicking of the dryer door made the female on the sofa bed stir, and she slowly sat up just as Sesshoumaru had pulled his shirt over his abs.

She rubbed her eyes as Inu-yasha groaned a little and turned on his back. Kagome looked through squinted eyes as Sesshoumaru came into focus. His narrow eyes widened a little as he said a low, "Good Morning!"

Kagome stretched and smiled, "Good Morning."

She blinked her eyes a few times as the image before her became clearer. "You must be Inu-yasha's brother?" she said.

He held a single finger to his lips before pointing to the young man groaning under the covers trying not to wake up. Kagome jumped and covered her mouth with one hand. Sesshoumaru smiled and gestured her to follow him into the kitchen.

She looked back at Inu-yasha for only a moment as he turned to his other side presenting his bare back to her. Kagome smiled and pulled the blanket over his shoulder to keep him warm as she tip toed into the kitchen.

"Coffee?" the older brother offered.

"No thanks, but if you have any tea that would be great."

He pointed to a cubby and she proceeded to help herself to the box of Lipton tea.

As she put the pot on the back burner Sesshoumaru began to sip his coffee black. It was then that Kagome turned back to him and noticed that his left arm was missing. It seemed to stop just before it peaked through the end of the short sleeve.

Kagome touched the small scar on her back as she continued to stare. He finally turned back to her, and caught her stare only a moment before he looked at him and smiled before turning away.

He looked down at his arm. "Motorcycle accident," she said simply with no shame in his voice. "It's okay to look. It's how I met my girlfriend."

Kagome looked back at him and smiled before going to grab a mug. She finally looked at him again. "Did it hurt?"

Sesshoumaru smirked. "It's hard to remember. It all happened so fast. The burns kinda killed all the nerves I think before they really had a chance to react to anything. Doctors say it's normal not to feel anything when you have three degree burns."

Kagome gripped her cup with both hands. "I'm so sorry."

He grinned before taking a sip. "Don't be, you're not responsible for it."

Kagome smiled at him sadly as she thought, 'If only I felt the same way.'

The look on the young girl's face didn't escape Sesshoumaru's eyes. Kagome reached for the steaming pot before it could whistle and poured the hot water into her cup with the tea bag bobbing at the surface.

He laughed softly. "It's okay you know."

Kagome looked at him as she stirred her tea with a spoon. "What do you mean?"

Sesshoumaru smiled. "You saw the helmet didn't you? In the lower cubby by the sink?"

She hesitated before nodding. "He hides it there. I used to do the same thing before Rin pulled it out."

Kagome narrowed her brow. "Why does he hide it?"

Sesshoumaru sipped his coffee. "To run from a past life, hide the pain, it's any man's guess really." He paused a moment before looking out at his brother's sleeping form. "He hides it because he blames himself for what happened to my arm. He thinks that if he had gotten to me sooner he could have spared my arm. Inu-yasha said he let one of the riders that night get to him, and it made him loose concentration on the race."

Kagome looked at the sleeping form beside them across them in the living side of the room. "Who got to him?"

Sesshoumaru finished off his coffee. "Same guy who knocked me off my bike in order to win the race."

Kagome's eyes widened in shock, before she looked down at her tea and putting it down on the counter. "I had always known Kouga had done something to the Moon Dog…I just didn't know he affected the other one too. Does he really blame himself?"

"For what happened to my arm? No, not anymore. No he blames himself for loosing all thought of who he was. The pain of a drag racers pride. He thought it wouldn't get to him, and it did. It gets to all of us. He's afraid to face it…he's afraid to face the man that made him feel that way. He blames himself for being a coward, for being scared. He's not sure of himself anymore. Doesn't know if he can fight for what he believes in anymore, for what he wants. Inu-yasha blames himself for being a coward…when he's actually the bravest person I know."

Kagome smiled at the last comment. "What makes you say that?"

Sesshoumaru grinned as Inu-yasha began to stir and sit up in bed. "He forgot all about the race, the need to win, and himself, to save his brother's life."

Kagome looked at Sesshoumaru as he smiled at her and they faced each other. Inu-yasha was arching his back forward to stretch out his spine with his hands on his hips as he blinked the sleep out of his eyes before opening the fridge to get at the carton of OJ on the top shelf. Without a second thought he began to drink from the carton.

"Wake-up, Sleepy-Head! We still got a woman in the house!"

Inu-yasha choked on the juice that was in his mouth as it began to dribble down his chin and chest. He swallowed as he wiped his chin with the back of his free hand. His eyes falling on a giggling Kagome as the blood ran to his face, affectively waking him up.

Sesshoumaru rolled his eyes as he reached up to the cubby by his head and tossed him a glass. "Take a picture, she'll stay there longer."

Inu-yasha turned to his brother and growled, "Shut up!" before placing the glass down and double taking his brother. "What the hell did you do to your hair?"

Sesshoumaru strode with a calm grace to the sink putting his mug at the bottom of it. "It's called bleaching."

Inu-yasha stared at him like his brother had gone mad. "You look like a freakin'girl."

The word instantly brought a finger within inches of his nose. "I'm not the one who played night owl and took a customer's bike out for a joy ride last night. Where'd you two go anyway?"

Inu-yasha waited until his brothers back was turned to him, "None of your business."

"Hey, I pay the bills on any damages done to any bike that comes into this shop, I make that my business."

"Nothing happened," Kagome butted in. "It was just a short joy ride around town."

Sesshoumaru looked at the girl and then at his brother. "You trained her well. Two against one, but you loose points. I'm the one with the missing arm here."

There was silence as Sesshoumaru entered the bathroom. The sound of the water running in the shower finally gave Kagome and Inu-yasha the chance to look at each other and chuckle as softly as possible without Sesshoumaru hearing them.

* * *

Three days…it had been echoing in Sango's head for, well, since that morning. No phone calls, no letter or note, no simple "hello", nothing. She regretted it…She knew she would and now she was. She had slept with a man, had her one night stand, the best sex she had ever had, and now she was expecting miracles. Like a guy would ever fall in love with her after one night.

"Yeah right…" she growled.

"Huh?" her brother said looking up from his homework as he did it on the bar counter. Sango looked up from cleaning the beer class before putting it away. She shook her head. "Nothing, Kohaku, I was just thinking out loud. Sorry."

The boy shrugged his shoulders and went back to racking his brain for how to do the formula he had learned at summer school again.

Sango sighed heavily as she ran her hands over her face and then through her hair to secure it in a tighter ponytail. Short wisps of hair escaped her though and fell over her eyes and forehead.

Maybe it was just hormones…maybe she was just really horney…or maybe she just really wanted a miracle to happen and for Kouga to walk through the door, say they were through. Then, half a second later for Miroku to walk through and ask her if they could start over and get a drink sometime.

A drink? Yeah right, she owned the best drink business in Tampa, Florida. No, maybe dancing, or another walk on the beach, and then they could try and lie to each other that they didn't want to have sex again, and that it was a mistake…and then five minutes be in the sack again.

Jeez now she knew she was lusting for him. This wasn't love or anything, but one thing was clear and that was that it was all beyond reason and logic. How the hell could one man do this to her after one night?

Suddenly the bell on the door rang, and the frustrated Sango growled, "Happy Hours don't start for another hour, come back later." She didn't even turn to look as she put another class away.

The sound of a bar stool being dragged across the floor finally made her turn around, but before she could tell the customer the same message again, her mouth went dry.

"Hi," he said with a small smile as he nervously rubbed the back of his neck. Miroku arrived with his hair tied back and his shirt covered in grease. His face and hands clean, and his beautiful blue eyes looking right at her with all the fear in the world reflecting in them.

Sango struggled a raspy, "Hi," back and then they were silent as they both looked at each other.

She then turned to her brother. "Kohaku, could you got to the apartment and finish your homework? I need a moment alone with Miroku here."

Without saying a word, the boy picked up his things and left through the back door.

Miroku smiled as he folded his hands on the counter. "Nice kid!" he commented.

"Yeah that's my little brother for you," she said softly.

She turned back to him and then slowly began to feel the awkwardness between them grow even more as the silence became defining.

"Can I offer you anything?" she asked.

"Naw, I need to drive back soon. I just stopped by to, umm, to talk about…you know?"

Sango tried to act like she didn't know what he was talking about. "Oh that…yeah…that…"

Here it comes, she told herself as her hands wrung the cloth in her hands.

"Sango…I don't want…I don't know…Let me ask you something?" he said, and she nodded vigorously.

"Do you regret anything that happened between us that night? I mean, cause if you do, I understand. I would never try to get in between you and Kouga, and I just wasn't thinking. I don't know what I was thinking. It all kind of happened so fast."

Sango looked at him put her finger over his lips. "You're babbling!"

"Sorry," he responded quickly, "Habit of mine…Look, Sango…I don't want to be an ass hole…I know I'm not…what I'm trying to say is…" Miroku let out a heavy sigh as he took her hand. "Can we please, start over?"

Sango looked at him knowing that this was the point he was trying to get to the whole time.

Miroku looked at her hand. "I think you're really great, amazing even…but I don't want all that to go to hell because of a one night stand. I know you're still with Kouga and all, so let me ask you this. Can we at least be friends?"

Sango looked at him and then down at her hand that he had incased in his own two large ones. Gods, how she wanted those hands to be touching places other than her hands at that moment, but she snapped out of her teenage fantasy and back into the responsible adult she had to be.

"Okay, friends…but you don't get any benefits. Maybe a secret or two to keep, but…no more sex…deal?"

Miroku held up his hands in complete surrender. "Oh there's no argument here."

Sango then turned back to her work and looked back at him. She smirked a little. "I was that bad, huh?"

Miroku looked at her a little caught off guard. "The sex?"

"Yeah…I mean I know I've been outta practice for at least two to three months, but"

Miroku stopped her. "Don't do that…we both just really wanted it, right? I mean…it was just like we were two crazy teenagers again for one night right?"

Sango was quiet for a moment. "Do you have any regrets?"

Miroku watched her eyes. "Only that it went to fast and that Kouga could kill us both if he finds out."

Sango smiled for a moment. "Yeah same here!"

Miroku smiled back and waited until her eyes left the beer glass she was playing with to look back at him.

"Sango…can I tell you something, as a friend?"

Sango glanced at his lips for only a moment and then back into his eyes. "What?"

Miroku swallowed hard and took her hand. "If you're so unhappy with Kouga…why haven't you left him yet?"

Sango held her breath for a moment as she thought. "I guess it's because of tradition, you know? The reining champ of the motorcycling drag racers dates me…it's nothing glorious, but it brings in the customers after every race."

Miroku's smile didn't appear for awhile before he sat down. Sango smiled back and then looked at the clock on the wall by the door. "Well, I don't open for awhile, but you're welcome to have a soda on the house?"

Miroku's smile turned brighter and he pounded his fist on the counter top. "Hit me!"

* * *

Okay not a long chapter, but it covers a lot of ground for a little while.

Leave a review!

SDR


	11. Chapter 10 Fair and Fair Enough

Disclaimer; Awe come on! Everyone knows who made Inu-yasha by now. Fine, Inu-yasha is not mine.

**A Ride Called Kagome**

**Chapter 10**

(At long last I am updating, thank you for the 100 reviews guys!)

"Tickets to a chopper show?" Inu-yasha said in disbelief after he dropped his wrench on the cement floor with a loud cling.

"Yep, and I have three extra's?" Kagome said waving them in his face for a moment before hiding them behind her back.

Inu-yasha glared at her. "Tease," he dropped to his knees to pick up his wrench. "What's the catch?"

"No catch," she said with a smile, "I want you to come with me. We can get paint ideas for the bike. And maybe some more design ideas for the other stuff too."

Inu-yasha secretly smiled at the fact she had asked him to join her, but of course mathematics drowned some of his hopes. "Who are the other two?"

Kagome pulled her tickets from behind and looked at them. "I was thinking about asking Sango and my brother, but Kouga's busy as usual."

Inu-yasha looked at her for a moment and then turned his attention to the sounds of a toilet flushing in the far corner as Miroku immerged from the bathroom. His memory clicked to the one of the conversations that they had only days ago. He smiled evilly, and then composed himself. "What about Miroku?"

Kagome looked up from her tickets and thought back to Sango's intimate conversation with her before happy hour that day. She too smiled evilly and walked over as casually as possible, fanning herself with the tickets.

"Hey, Miroku--"

"Yeah, I'll go!" he said with a smirk, "And for the record, Sango and I are friends," he said pointing his screw driver at her, "we discussed this and agreed."

"What while she was on her back with you between her thighs?" Inu-yasha joked, only to have a greasy rag thrown at his face. He pulled it off and glared at the mechanic.

"Great," Kagome squealed with excitement. "Have your bikes ready to go and Sango and I will meet you at Exterminator's Bar in the morning."

Kagome skipped out of the garage, only to come back a second later and leave two tickets on Inu-yasha's work bench. "I'll see you at closing time," she said with a happy smile and kissed Inu-yasha's greased cheek before leaving.

Inu-yasha watched her leave with a quick wave as she hopped on her ride and left.

Miroku looked on and crossed his arms as Inu-yasha stared off into the distance where Kagome had disappeared, still playing with the rag in his hand.

"Jeez, will you two just quit it already? Gads, if the two of you go back and forth denying each other any longer I'm going to choke on the pheromones in this garage."

Inu-yasha threw the rag back at him, but Miroku caught it in his hand. Inu-yasha sighed and leaned over the lift that held up the bike he was working on. "I don't think Hojo broke up with her."

Miroku arched his brow. "What do you mean? You told me he said he was only going out with her to get to Kouga? He lost his chance when you beat him, right? So he should be history."

Inu-yasha groaned as he started to work on a valve. "She hasn't said anything. I can't make a move unless I know, Miroku."

Miroku snorted, "Then why don't you just tell her about what happened at the race."

Inu-yasha glared at him. "I promised her."

"Promised what?"

Inu-yasha stood up and rubbed his fingers in the rag. He didn't look at Miroku. "I promised I wouldn't let anyone hurt her again." He paused as he walked over to his bench and sat on his stool to look over the valve he had removed. "If I tell her she'll only be hurt, and if I don't she'll still get hurt if he tells her. It's up to her lame boyfriend, now."

Miroku walked over to him. "Just a thought," he said softly, "what if he doesn't break up with her?"

Inu-yasha looked at him like he grew another head.

"Think about it, what better way to get back on Kouga's good side than to be around the one person Kouga cares about most? He might use her to try and get another chance."

Inu-yasha snorted, "You think that jerk would be that smart? Come on, Miroku. You think too much."

Two chopper engines roared down the streets of Tampa, Kagome at the helm of her bike with Inu-yasha sitting behind her with his arms around her tiny waistline. Miroku rode his own chopper with Sango gripping on to his sides.

Kagome turned to look at the couple on the bike beside them. "Miroku decided not to wear a shirt today, I noticed," she said to Inu-yasha.

Inu-yasha kept his eyes forward. "Well, Sango didn't do any better. She's got nice abs like he does, they have the right to show off."

Kagome smiled, "I hope you're not the only one who noticed. I was the one who had to work hard this morning just to make her wear that denim jacket that comes up that high with her bathing suit top."

Inu-yasha glanced to the side and caught Sango's hand tracing the small cress in one of Miroku's abs and watching his stomach suck in a little from her touch.

Their in such denial, he thought to himself.

Miroku caught Inu-yasha just as he turned back to watch the road. His arms tightened their grip on Kagome's waist a little as they leaned into a turn.

Sango looked over his shoulder, "How the hell can they stand it?"

"What do you mean?" he asked.

Sango groaned, "It took me half of this morning alone just to convince Kagome to wear that shirt today. The one with the Orange County Choppers symbol on it in rhinestones, I almost killed her with a scissors when I cut six inches off the bottom of her shirt. Course, there's no argument when it comes to her shorts. They suit her better when she covers her butt more, it gives it more shape."

Miroku laughed a little. "Inu-yasha gave me a hard time about wearing a shirt today. He said since we were going to the beach I should show off what I have, and look at him. He's probably got a body twice as good as mine and he wears a grey tank with his faded jeans with the holes in the knees. He took better care in braiding his hair this morning."

Sango smiled. "True, but you have to admit, that tank doesn't leave a lot to the imagination anyway."

She giggled as she pressed herself closer to Miroku's back and put her head on his shoulder. Miroku did his best to simply stay comfortable with it, and though he was his mind couldn't get over the fact her hands were mere inches from death. It made him glad that his pants were straddling his chopper enough to hide what she was doing to him. Gads, trying to be friends and ignoring the sexual call between his body and hers was hard.

His mind kept jumping back to the night they slept together, and how her back arched into him when he entered her and ran his fingers down her spine. He remembered how she ran her fingers over his abs making his back bow and pushed himself deeper into her.

How in the hell were they keeping this friendship alive without thinking back to that night when they learned more about the other than any true friend would?

It must have been a week since that night and the call of her body was strong, not that Sango didn't feel his to hers either. She her fingers wanted to feel his stomach suck in when she touched him just right. She liked having this little power over him, and was secretly smiling that Inu-yasha had convinced him not to wear a shirt. She'd longed to feel that wash board tummy of his again. It took all her will power just to keep her from letting her hands drift to the front of his pants to see if his reaction to her touch was the same as it was that night. She wanted to feel his lips leave a trail of heat down her neck again, and feel him go deeper into her body when she built a fire in his stomach with her fingers.

How were they doing this? How were they keeping themselves from canceling their outing with Inu-yasha and Kagome and not speeding back to her place to be as loud as they damn well wanted to be at that moment?

When they arrived at the show, Kagome's hand clutched Inu-yasha's and pulled him into the crowd of people looking at the newest custom bikes on display. Most of the time Inu-yasha was drawn to the bikes done in the old school style while Kagome observed wilder styles of metal work. She would often stop and point out to Inu-yasha a certain tank style or a fender that caught her eye that seemed to look like it would cut down on air flow around the bike. Inu-yasha looked at all the different paint styles, from skulls to clowns, scenes of the shimmering night sky to flaming underworlds.

Sango and Miroku seemed to stay content with looking at the different events happening on the beach. Sure there was bungee jumping and crazy eating contests, but both seemed content with two hotdogs and two large sodas. Sitting watching the ocean as the waves crashed at their feet.

Kagome and Inu-yasha watched them from a far. "How the hell can they stand it?" Kagome groaned, "Seriously, are they both blind?"

Inu-yasha raised one brow as he looked at her and shook his head with a soft chuckle. "There's nothing you can do," he said, "You're brother is the main thing standing in their way."

Inu-yasha groaned as he sat down in the sand and propped his elbows on his knees. Kagome flopped down next to him and sighed as she leaned her head on his shoulder. "I don't know anymore."

Inu-yasha looked at the mane of black locks clinging to his shoulder. "What's there to figure out? You should feel proud that Sango's staying faithful to you're brother, for the most part anyway."

Kagome picked up her head and glared at him. "And you think being some drag bike winner's prize all her life is good enough for her?"

Inu-yasha held his hands up in defense. "I'm not saying that."

Kagome glared at him for a moment before crossing her arms and hugging her legs to her chest. "It's not fair. I don't want to be someone's prize, and I know Sango doesn't love my brother anymore. She deserves the right to live her own life the way she wants to live it."

Kagome combed away a lock of hair with her fingers and placed her chin on her knee. "The truth is, if Sango leaves my brother, maybe he'll come back home to me and give up drag racing."

Inu-yasha stared at the young girl at his side. She suddenly seemed so sad and alone, and the fact was she was longing for her brother more than anything. For a moment he found his hatred for Kouga again, wanting the jerk to have never come into his life in the first place. But now, it was because of how he wanted the girl of his dreams to be happy. "There's one thing I like about riding the open road every now and then."

Kagome turned her head toward him and combed her hair out of her face to reveal a curious smile. "Really, what's that?"

Inu-yasha looked at the sand under his feet. "There are no rules or restrictions. It's just you and the road. No one telling you what to do or who to be…it's your own little peace of heaven…its freedom."

Kagome watched Inu-yasha as his eyes turned to look out at the ocean. He had become the strong silent type suddenly right before her eyes, compared to the man she joked around with in the garage. She felt her heart pound with a courage and faith she had never known before. Kagome felt the need to be something she wasn't, an active rebel. If her words couldn't get to her brother, than maybe an action would. She would find her own freedom.

She leaned into Inu-yasha's side and placed her head softly on his shoulder. Kagome breathed in his warm scent and felt at peace for the first time.

Kagome placed her hand on his arm and summed up her courage. "Inu-yasha, there's something I need to tell you."

Inu-yasha turned to her and their eyes met, and Just as Kagome's mouth opened to say what she needed to confess, another voice broke the pause between them.

"Kagome," a male voice said and she turned her attention to the man standing behind them. "What are you doing here?"

Kagome got to her feet, "Hojo…what are you doing here, I thought you said that you were going to be busy this afternoon."

"I was, but I got out of work early and I came here to find you only to find you getting all cozy with this guy."

Inu-yasha got to his feet to defend Kagome, but Hojo's eyes widened when he recognized who Kagome was actually with. "You," he growled.

"Hojo, don't!" Kagome pleaded as she placed herself between her boyfriend and Inu-yasha. "I asked him to come with me. Sango and Miroku came with us, too."

Hojo grabbed her arm and pulled her aside. "Look here, Mister. I don't care if she's helping you with that project of yours, but no one puts his hands on my girl."

Kagome winced, "Hojo you're hurting me."

Inu-yasha looked the brown haired jerk in the face. "Let her go, your problem is with me."

He shoved Kagome into his two friends behind him. "Take her to our bikes. We're taking her home."

"No," Kagome cried out, "I came here with Inu-yasha, and I'm leaving with him."

Hojo stomped toward her and slapped her against the face. "You better remember where your loyalties lie."

Inu-yasha grabbed Hojo's shoulder and spun him around. In a moment he had Hojo by his collar. "Hit her again, and I'll put you in your place you bastard."

Hojo grabbed Inu-yasha's fists and pulled them away from his neck. "Are you threatening me?"

Inu-yasha glared at Hojo to the point Kagome could swear his eyes were almost red. "Touch her, again, and I'll kill you."

Hojo sneered, "You are, aren't you?" Hojo shrugged Inu-yasha off. "Know this, Asshole. Anyone who threatens me…pays for it."

Inu-yasha showed no fear. "Then I guess I really owe you…after beating you at your own game in that race."

Kagome gasped, "Inu-yasha, don't!"

Inu-yasha got up close to Hojo's shocked face and said in a low, quiet voice. "Funny thing…I remember you telling me that the only reason you were with Kagome was because she was your ticket into Kouga's gang. I wonder what changed your mind."

Hojo sneered at Inu-yasha. "Don't worry," Inu-yasha continued, "I haven't told her our little secret…yet."

Hojo leaned in close to Inu-yasha until their noses almost touched. "Watch yourself, mechanic. You don't know what kind of shit you're getting yourself into."

Inu-yasha nodded, "We'll see about that."

Hojo whispered to the point that it sounded like a hissing snake. "If I see you with her again, you will be dead. I'll make sure of that."

Hojo walked away and grabbed Kagome's wrist and pulled her with him. Inu-yasha scowled and took a step toward to bring Hojo down, but Kagome's pleading voice stopped him. "No, Inu-yasha," she said, "I'll be alright…just…just go!"

Inu-yasha stepped back and stewed in his own anger. Until he felt Miroku's hand on his shoulder, "Hey, you alright?"

Inu-yasha exhaled as he watched Kagome get on to Hojo's bike, looking back at him with the saddest look in her eyes, that made his heart ache for her smile.

"Yeah…don't worry…I won't let that jerk get away with this."

* * *

Miroku and Sango pulled up to the Exterminator's Bar and looked out at the late evening fog rolling in around them. Sango looked out at the road as Inu-yasha drove by in a fury on Kagome's bike and passed them to head home. Miroku sighed and took a few steps down the road ahead of Sango. "He's not going to be able to sleep to well tonight."

Sango brushed her hair away from her face and looked at Miroku a little bit harder. "He loves her, you know. All the love in world and everything she could ever want…and he can't even get close to her. No freedom…no freedom to love who you want to love."

Sango looked at him, as he slowly turned back toward her. "Miroku--"

"Why can't we be together?" he said in a low voice.

Sango looked at him and then at the ground. "I told you it's tradition that's all."

"Do you love him?" he asked suddenly.

Sango felt everything in her entire being come to a halt. "What?"

"Do you love him? It's an easy question."

Sango scoffed at him and began walking toward her apartment door. "Don't do this to me, Miroku."

"Why not? If you love him you would say so, right? So just say so."

Sango spun around, "You have no right to do this to me. Don't ask me things like that."

Miroku yelled, "Just tell me, Sango. Are we just sitting here acting like friends because it's the only thing we can do to make up for what happened? Or am I just sitting here waiting for something that will never happen? Just tell me if you love him, and if you do then I'll stop this whole thing. You can kick me out of your life and go on living the way you did before I came into your life."

Sango stomped off toward her door and began to unlock it, but her frustration made it difficult to find her keys and put the correct key in the lock. "You're not being fair. You think this is easy for me? You think it's easy for me to look at him when I see him and try and hide the fact I slept with another man behind his back? No girl can help the fact she feels like dirt every time she has to kiss the man she knows she should be loyal to."

Finally, Sango threw her keys on the ground giving up on her door. She turned and looked at Miroku with tears beginning to pool in her eyes. "Do you think it's easy for me to sit there and watch him go and race wondering why am I sitting here wondering if he'll loose or win? Wondering when is my life going to change? Wondering when I'll be happy again? Well, I'll tell you right now…It's not easy…It's not easy being the person who has to watch everything happen on the sides. It's not easy living a life planned out for you. It's not easy living the same thing over and over again. It's not easy being someone's girlfriend but still feel like your single because you're so alone."

Miroku watched her as tears rolled down her cheeks, wanting nothing more than to kiss each one away. Sango summed up the courage to finish. "It's not easy being with someone you don't love anymore. It's not easy being your friend, either."

Miroku stepped toward her and got as close to her as possible until he could feel her gasping chest against him. "Why?" he said in the softest, gentlest whisper.

Sango swallowed hard, knowing everything that would come after this moment. She wanted to taste it, feel it, savor it…everything he had that she wanted more than anything in the world.

"It's not easy hating you…and I really hate you right now, Miroku…I really hate you…and it's not easy to hate you when I can't stop falling in love with--"

And that's all Sango said, for in the moment he heard her say the one word he wanted her to say for so long, his lips pressed hard against hers in a hunger he had held far too long. Her lips responded with a whimper and a hunger. Both of them knew what would come next, they wanted what would come next. They wanted the warmth of the other's skin, the taste of soft and heavy kisses. The feeling of quick tempo and soft pace, of passion and longing. The feel of restraint and release, of lust and love. The feeling that told them both they were alive and more than anything that they were free.

Though even though all of this would come, the moment before, the kiss that sealed there fate was seen by eyes that were not on their side. The only sound made from outside Sango's apartment, was the sound of a howling motorcycle engine in the dark. A sound that was drowned out by the need for forbidden passion.


End file.
